The physical properties of a cryoglobulin obtained from lymph nodes and serum of a case of lymphosarcoma.

During the course of an investigation of the electrophoretic properties of extracts of human neoplastic lymphoid tissues, a distinctly abnormal component was observed in a case of lymphosarcoma. On examining the serum of this patient, it was found that lowering the temperature to 4” caused spontaneous precipitation of a large amount of protein, which redissolved completely when the serum was warmed to room temperature. Further investigation revealed that the abnormal proteins from tissue and serum were identical with respect to electrophoretic mobility and sedimentation constant. The phenomenon of spontaneous reversible precipitation of blood proteins in the cold has been reviewed by Lerner et al. (1) who suggested that these proteins be termed cryoglobulins. Lerner reported that of 121 pathological sera studied by him thirty-one contained a cryoglobulin, while forty normal sera contained none. The diseases associated with the presence of a cryoglobulin both in Lerner’s studies and in those previously reported were so varied that the phenomenon could not be considered to be characteristic of any one disease. However, cryoglobulins appear to be somewhat commonly found in cases of myeloma. Morrison (2) isolated a cryoglobulin from human plasma by salting out with (NHJzSOd at 16.6 per cent saturation. This cryoglobulin, described as a part of the fibrinogen complex, had the property of clotting in the presence of anticoagulants and was thought to be responsible for increased erythrocyte sedimentation rates. No physical constants were determined. Morrison, Edsall, and Miller (3) in a study of the large scale separation of purified fibrinogen from pooled “normal” human plasma by alcohol fractionation, described a fract,ion (Fraction I-l) which contained fibrinogen and a non-clottable component having the property of spontaneously precipitating in the cold. This latter component was termed “cold insoltile globulin.” Since the amount recovered varied from one run to the next and constituted only 0.3 to 0.7 per cent of the total plasma protein, it was