1. Certain bacilli within one strain may lose their flagella and become non-motile. 2. The change in serological behavior associated with the change in motility indicates that the flagella possess an individual antigenic property. 3. Flagella can be separated from the bodies of the bacilli. 4. A strictly flagellar antiserum can be produced by the injection of a flagellar suspension. 5. This dir...

Chronic cold agglutinin disease (CAD) is a subgroup of autoimmune hemolytic anemia. Primary CAD has traditionally been defined by the absence of any underlying or associated disease. The results of therapy with corticosteroids, alkylating agents and interferon-alpha have been poor. Cold reactive immunoglobulins against erythrocyte surface antigens are essential to pathogenesis of CAD. These col...

Serum agglutinins of chick and pigeon cells are predominantly immunoglobulin M and can be inactivated by 2 mercaptoethanol. 2 Mercaptoethanol is more effective than strong suspensions of red cells in removing the agglutinins of indicator cells from sera being prepared for HAI tests. In rubella HAI tests from a dilution of 1 to 10 dilute 2 mercaptoethanol offer a convenient method of removing ag...

Autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) is a collective term for several diseases characterized by autoantibody-initiated destruction of red blood cells (RBCs). Exact subclassification is essential. We provide a review of the respective types of AIHA with emphasis on mechanisms of RBC destruction, focusing in particular on complement involvement. Complement activation plays a definitive but limited ...

OBJECTIVE To report a recent clustering of chilblain cases in Hong Kong. DESIGN Case series. SETTING A regional hospital and a social hygiene clinic in the New Territories West, Hong Kong. PATIENTS Patients with a clinical diagnosis of chilblains in February 2008. RESULTS Eleven patients with chilblains were identified; seven (64%) gave an antecedent history of prolonged exposure to col...

Although considerable evidence has accumulated that rheumatic fever is a streptococcal infection, attempts to demonstrate specific streptococcal agglutinins in the serums of patients with tWis disease have met with only a moderate degree of success. Tunnicliff (1) performed agglutination reactions with the serums of twelve rheumatic fever patients against strains of Micrococcus rheumaticus and ...

Serial serum samples from patients with acute pancreatitis showed a significant increase in antibodies against methanol-chloroform-extracted lipid antigen from Mycoplasma pneumoniae when tested by complement fixation. The antibodies did not react with antigens prepared from other human mycoplasmas or from pancreatic tissue by lipid extraction. The antibodies were predominantly immunoglobulin M ...