Experimental Production of Cold Agglutinins in Rabbits.

By NICoi S COSTEA, VINCENT YAKULLS AND PAUL HELLER H EMOLYTIC ANEMIA of the cold agglutinin ( CA ) variety is believed to represent an autoimmune disorder occasionally complicating the course of lymphoproliferative diseases.’2 Whereas animal models have been proposed for the investigation of various autoimmune phenomena,3 cold reacting erythrocyte autoantibodies have not yet been studied in experimental animals. It is the purpose of this report to present studies of the kinetics, serologic and immunochemical characteristics of erythrocyte antibodies of the cold reacting variety which were induced in rabbits by immunization with a xenogeneic antigen.#{176} These studies were stimulated by a previous observation that rabbits produced cold hemagglutinins when injected with heat killed Listeria monocytogenes ( HKLM ) isolated from a patient with Listeria monocytogenes septicemia and cold agglutinin hemolytic anemia.5