Immunotherapy with the help of paternal allogeneic lymphocytes became a viable form of treatment for the women suffering from recurrent miscarriages. The treatment became popular during the 1980s and since then it has been seen that the treatment has brought about a positive outcome in pregnancy results with lymphocyte immunotherapy.
What are the possible side-effects resulting from LIT therapy?
The local reactions were the most common side-effects. These consist of itching or redness that recedes within 2 weeks. The systemic reactions can also be found in 6%-8% of the cases of LIT therapy. Blisters can be found at the injection sites and are characteristic of LIT therapy. It is not dependent on the HLA class I mismatch that can be found between the host and cell donor. A large study of 4500 cases of LIT, there were no no major side effects like graft versus host disease, anaphylaxis and autoimmune problems.
What are the reactions observed in the patients?
The side-effects that can be seen after the LIT therapy can be classified into a few categories. The local reactions are mostly caused due to the intradermal injections. There can be systemic symptoms like malaise and mild fever as well. The probability of getting these mild side effects vary from one person to the other.
Local reactions
An inflammatory reaction might build up in the first week following treatment. However, it would subside within the first 2 weeks. The injection sites are visible as faint bluish marks for a couple of weeks. However, they generally do vanish and do not cause granuloma or scarring. These local reactions might include a burning sensation, swelling, itching, redness, blisters at the injection sites, pain and discomfort in the immunized arm accompanied with swelling.
Systemic symptoms
There can be the development of systemic symptoms like malaise, mild fever and skin rashes. There are no major systemic side effects like anaphylaxis, graft versus host diseaseand autoimmune disorders. (Kling et al)
Considering all the test cases that have been studied over the years, it can be said that LIT is free from major side effects.