Cimetidine and Hematologic Effects

Drug-Induced Immune Hemolytic Anemia

“…288,289 The authors of both reports express caution in implicating the drug, however. 288,289 The authors of both reports express caution in implicating the drug, however.…”

Immune hemolytic anemia due to cimetidine: the first example of a cimetidine antibody

“…The DAT was negative at the time of the hemolysis and no other serologic results were reported; thus there was no proof that the hemolysis had an immune etiology. Rate and coworkers 4 cautioned that this patient's hematologic disorder may have been caused by the underlying disease and not by cimetidine.…”

“…Cimetidine is a histamine H 2 ‐receptor antagonist that inhibits gastric acid secretion; it was introduced into medical practice outside the United States in 1976 and approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 1977 (trade name, Tagamet). Cimetidine has been associated with leukopenia and/or thrombocytopenia 2 and was first reported in association with IHA in 1979 by two groups of investigators 3,4 . Rotoli and colleagues 3 reported one patient who developed hemolytic anemia while receiving cimetidine; the direct antiglobulin test (DAT) was positive for immunoglobulin (Ig)M, IgA, and C3 and the serum contained an autoantibody that reacted with untreated RBCs.…”

“…Rotoli and colleagues 3 reported this as a case of autoimmune hemolytic anemia due to cimetidine but this association was not proven by rechallenging the patient with the drug. Rate and coworkers 4 described one patient who developed granulocytopenia, thrombocytopenia, and hemolytic anemia while receiving cimetidine; the hematologic abnormalities resolved after cimetidine was stopped. The DAT was negative at the time of the hemolysis and no other serologic results were reported; thus there was no proof that the hemolysis had an immune etiology.…”

“…Cimetidine has been associated with leukopenia and/or thrombocytopenia 2 and was first reported in association with IHA in 1979 by two groups of investigators. 3,4 Rotoli and colleagues 3 reported one patient who developed hemolytic anemia while receiving cimetidine; the direct antiglobulin test (DAT) was positive for immunoglobulin (Ig)M, IgA, and C3 and the serum contained an autoantibody that reacted with untreated RBCs. Rotoli and colleagues 3 reported this as a case of autoimmune hemolytic anemia due to cimetidine but this association was not proven by rechallenging the patient with the drug.…”