drug-induced hemolytic anemia

drug-induced immune hemolytic anemia immune hemolytic anemia induced by drugs, classified by mechanism as penicillin type, in which the drug, acting as a hapten bound to the red cell membrane, induces the formation of specific antibodies; methyldopa type, in which the drug, possibly by inhibition of suppressor T cells, induces the formation of anti-Rh antibodies; or stibophen or “innocent bystander” type, in which circulating drug-antibody immune complexes bind nonspecifically to red cells. The first two types usually involve warm-reactive antibodies and accelerated sequestration of red cells by the reticuloendothelial system; the third usually involves cold-reactive antibodies and complement-dependent intravascular hemolysis.