Experimental Production of Cold Agglutinins in Rabbits

Abstract

Abstract The kinetics, serologic and immunochemical characteristics of cold agglutinins (CA) produced in rabbits by the intravenous injection of HKLM serotype 4b have been studied. The cold agglutinin was a γM-immunoglobulin. It agglutinated autologous, allogeneic and human erythrocytes at 4 C. In the presence of complement the CA was hemolytic in vitro and in vivo. The relevance of these observations to concepts of autoimmunity is discussed.