LLbrown,
I'm sorry I'm so late in responding. I've really been wondering about this: "Chronic intracellular infection can cause increased levels of IFN-gamma." If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. research has shown that cancer tumors are most often caused by a virus that the body's killer T-cells don't respond to, because you have too many regulatory T-cells. So in summary you have a chronic viral infection. In the case of autoimmune disease you have too many killer T-cells and not enough regulatory T-cells, so why not also from a viral infection? And in the case of Aplastic Anemia, why not a viral infection in your bone marrow or blood cells? You have the chronic infection either way (cancer or autoimmune disease), but there's something about your body that is trying to fight it off but can't.
Marlene,
Your article about exhausted T-cells is also very interesting. My son was 1 month premature and got RSV when he was 3 months old and fought it off wonderfully, actually, but I wonder if that primed his immune cells to prepare a massive attack for the rest of his life, and got tired from too many massive attacks, especially as we know his trigger is upper respiratory viruses.
Additional Info:
1) I did finally find an article with a case of Henoch–Schönlein purpura (HSP) turning into Aplastic Anemia.
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s004310051239
It's from 1999. A 10-yr old boy developed 9 weeks' worth of Aplastic Anemia from Henoch-Schonlein purpura but they don't call it aplastic anemia, they call it pancytopenia, and it responded to erythropoietin (EPO). The boy eventually still needed a kidney transplant because he got the kidney damage that more often accompanies HSP, but luckily was ok after that.
2) Solaris (eculizumab), which is used to treat PNH, is in a phase two clinical trial at the University of Glasgow for treating Guillain-Barre Syndrome.:
http://www.mctlawyers.com/new-treatm...arre-syndrome/
"The first new treatment for Guillain-Barre Syndrome in 20 years is entering a Phase II clinical trial. It’s called eculizumab, which is a humanized monoclonal antibody first approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2007 to treat a rare blood disorder.
In Guillain-Barre Syndrome, or GBS, the body’s immune system attacks part of the peripheral nervous system and often causes acute neuromuscular weakness. People with GBS may also experience numbness, tingling and blurred vision. Because this disease can affect respiratory muscles, some patients have be placed on a ventilator. Up to 30 percent of patients are left with a permanent disability, including some who cannot walk unassisted.
...
Neurologists believe controlling inflammation during the acute phase of GBS is key to reducing nerve injury and long-term neurological problems. Eculizumab may help do that by inhibiting activation of the body’s complement system. This component of the immune system may become overactive in GBS and damage nerve fibers."