Human Granulocytic Anaplasmosis and Macrophage Activation.
Dumler, Stephen J. 1; Barat, Nicole C. 1; Barat, Christopher E. 2; Bakken, Johan S. 3
[Article] Clinical Infectious Diseases. 45(2):199-204, July 15, 2007.

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: Patients with human granulocytic anaplasmosis present with fever, thrombocytopenia, leukopenia, and an elevated aspartate transaminase level. Clinical and histopathologic features of severe disease suggest macrophage activation. Twenty-nine patients with human granulocytic anaplasmosis had higher ferritin, interleukin-10, interleukin-12 p70, and interferon-[gamma] levels than did control subjects matched for age and sex; severity correlated with triglyceride, ferritin, and interleukin-12 p70 levels. Several severely affected patients had cases that fulfilled macrophage activation syndrome diagnostic criteria. Macrophage activation and excessive cytokine production may belie tissue injury associated with Ananplasma phagocytophilum infection.

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