I T HAS BEEN well known for many years that the sera of patients with certam viral infections, acquired hemolytic anemia or other disorders may contam large quantities of proteins capable of directly agglutinating normal human erythrocytes during cold incubation.1’2 These proteins are designated pathologic “complete” cold agglutinins. The direct agglutination they produce is readily reversed by...

Cold agglutinins (CA) were evaluated prospectively in patients with various mononucleosis syndromes and in a large control group. Cold agglutinins with anti-i specificity were seen mainly in heterophil-positive or -negative Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-induced infectious mononucleosis (31.8% of cases). Unclassified CA with equal reactivity against cord and adult erythrocytes were seen in 56 of 150 ...

A method was described for the partial purification of beta galactosidase and beta glucosaminidase from Clostridium tertium culture supernatants. Treatment of erythrocytes with preparations containing both enzymes decreases their ability to react with anti-I cold agglutinins, and with Type XIV antipneumococcal horse serum. Erythrocytes of blood group A(1) are altered more rapidly and extensivel...

Cold antibodies were found in 95 out of 112 cases active at 10 degrees C. but in 86 of these the whole blood compatability test described in this paper was negative or very weakly positive. It is safe to transfuse blood incompatible with a cold antibody if the whole blood test is weak or negative.

Examination of the sequences of the first complementarity-determining segments of the light chains of two IgM cold agglutinins agains blood group I, four monoclonal IgM antibodies against IgG proteins, and of three Bence Jones proteins provides clues for predicting which residues contribute to antibody specificity and indicates that these predictions may be tested by evaluating recovery of anti...

Activation of the classical pathway (CP) of complement is often associated with autoimmune disorders in which disease pathology is linked to the presence of an autoantibody. One such disorder is cold agglutinin disease (CAD), an autoimmune hemolytic anemia in which autoantibodies (cold agglutinins) bind to red blood cells (RBCs) at low temperatures. Anemia occurs as a result of autoantibody-med...

By CARL F. HINz, JR. T HE HEMOLYSIN of the Donath-Landsteiner reaction, responsible for [)arOxysmal cold hemoglobinuria, has not been characterized physicochemically. Other erythrocyte agglutinins and hemolysins have been identified in both the 75 and 195 fractions of y-globulin,1 and certain other of the cold antibodies have been identified with the 195 globulins.2 Further, the Donath-Landstei...