An Overview of Sickle Cell Disease from an Immunological Perspective

Abstract

Sickle Cell Disease is a genetic mutation in the haemoglobin gene which results in chronic hemolytic anaemia and progressive damage to multiple organs that affect the immune system. However, little is known about how this disease affects the adaptive immune response. This paper offers a summary of sickle cell disease from an immunological standpoint. PRISMA-compliant electronic articles from Google Scholar, PubMed, Research Gate, and Scopus were obtained by searching for terms like “immunological cells,” “red blood cells,” and “white blood cells.” The findings of this study indicate that persons with sickle cell anaemia are more prone to infection and inflammation due to the damage that might occur to their irregularly shaped red blood cells. Bone marrow and stem cell transplantation have been shown to be among the best strategies to treat sickle cell disease holisti- cally. While new medications are being created, more research must be done to understand how the immune system, in particular the adaptive immune system to rectify this aberration.