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Not yet recruitingNCT04814394fhfrUpdated Oct 26, 2021

The Significance of Release of T-follicular Helper and T-follicular Regulatory Cells in Autoimmune Haemolytic Anemia Before and After Tratment

An observational study in Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia, sponsored by Assiut University. Not yet recruiting. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2021-10-26.

Sponsored by Assiut University · Observational

From the registry’s dates

  • Primary completion was expected by Dec 2023, 2 years 10 months ago, but the record still lists the study as not yet recruiting.
Study type
Observational
Model
Case-control
Time perspective
Retrospective
Enrollment
50
Sex
All
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Study summary

we study the circulating T-follicular regulatory and T-follicular regulatory cells in autoimmune hemolytic anemia.

Read the detailed description

Autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) is an acquired autoimmune disease resulting in the production of antibodies directed against the patient's red blood cells (RBCs) causing shortened erythrocyte lifespan.

The main pathogensis of the disease is autoantibodies (Ab) that directed against erythrocytes, with or without complement (C) activation. The most common form of AIHA is warm AIHA characterized by the presence of warm-type autoantibodies-immunoglobulin G (IgG) which reacts optimally at 37 °C, causing RBC extravascular destruction by tissue macrophages .

Previous studies of the etiology and pathogenesis of AIHA have focused on the autoreactive B cells that have escaped tolerance mechanisms and regulatory T cells (Treg).

The main treatment of AIHA includes RBC transfusion and immune system inhibitors such as corticosteroids. During an immune response, CD4 Th cells can differentiate into several unique effector lineages that promote different immune responses via the secretion of distinct types of cytokines.

T follicular helper (Tfh) cells are a CD4 T cell lineage whose major function is to help B cells form germinal centers (GCs) and produce high-affinity antibodies(6). Tfh cells are characterized by expression of the CXCR5, the transcriptional repressor B cell lymphoma 6 (Bcl-6), programmed death 1 (PD-1), and inducible costimulator (ICOS).

Follicular regulatory T (Tfr) cells are a newly identified subset of Treg cells that coexpress markers of both Treg cells and Tfh cells. In addition to expressing Tfh-related markers, Tfr cells also express regulatory markers, such as FoxP3, CD25, CTLA-4, IL-10, and transforming growth factor β (TGFβ).

TFR cells represent a highly specialized subpopulation of Foxp3+ Tregs that co-express TFHfeatures, such as Bcl-6, CXCR5, ICOS, PD-1 and Treg features CD25 and Foxp3. TFR cells have the ability to inhibit TFH activation and cytokines production and suppress B cell GL7 and B7-1 expression and limited class switch recombination occurring in the GC via high expression of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) and production of inhibitory cytokine- interleukin 10 (IL-10) and transforming growth factorβ (TGFβ)(5). The involvement of TFR cells in the pathogenesis of human autoimmune diseases remains speculative, but an alteration of the TFR:TFH ratio is observed in the blood of patients suffering from several autoimmune diseases, such as child immune thrombocytopenia, and rheumatoid arthritis.

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Conditions studied

  • Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia
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In context

Anemia

1,733 studies on the registry are indexed under Anemia; 246 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 50 is below the median of 200 across 326 observational studies indexed under Anemia.

Browse Anemia studies →

Lead sponsor

Assiut University is the lead sponsor of 4,901 studies on the registry; 2,098 are open to participants now.

Of its 13 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 0 (0%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
Child (0–17), Adult (18–64), Older adult (65+)
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes
Sampling method
Non-probability sample

Study population

The sample size is 50 (25 in each arm) but number of controls will be decreased and number of cases will be increased

Inclusion criteria

  • Patients diagnosed as autoimmune hemolytic anemia, primary or secondary, male or female, any age but not on treatment

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Pregnancy or breast-feeding women
  • Patients treated with corticoids or immunosuppressant.
  • Patients with hematological malignance.
  • Patients with alloimmune hemolytic anemia as ABO incompatibility or transplant patients
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Study design

Observational model
Case-control
Time perspective
Retrospective
Enrollment
50 participants (estimated)
Patient registry
No

Interventions

  • Diagnostic testflowcytometry

    The study of CD4,CD25,FOXP3 and PD-1 on peripheral blood sample

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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. The proportion of circulating T-follicular helper and T-follicular regulatory in patients with Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA), at diagnosis and after treatment

    Time frame: Baseline

Secondary outcomes

  1. Measure the ratio between the T- follicular helper and T-follicular regulatory

    Time frame: Baseline

07

Study locations

No study locations are listed for this record.

08

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Oct 26, 2021, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT04814394
Lead sponsor
Assiut University
Responsible party
Mohamed gamal (Doctor, Assiut University) — Principal investigator
First posted
Mar 24, 2021
Start date
Apr 1, 2022 (estimated)
Primary completion
Dec 1, 2023 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 1, 2026 (estimated)
Last update
Oct 26, 2021

Oversight

FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is not yet recruiting, as verified in Oct 2021. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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