INTRODUCTION Cold agglutinin disease usually develops as a result of the production of a specific immunoglobulin M auto-antibody directed against the I/i and H antigens, precursors of the ABH and Lewis blood group substances, on red blood cells. Autoimmune and lymphoproliferative disorders, Mycoplasma pneumoniae and other infections can be associated with the production of cold agglutinins. In ...

A patient with a chronic, large fibre sensory neuropathy had an immunoglobulin M lambda monoclonal paraprotein reactive at titres in excess of 1/10(5) with NeuNAc(alpha 2-8)NeuNAc(alpha 2-3)Gal configured disialosyl groups present on the gangliosides GD1b, GT1b, GQ1b, and GD3. The paraprotein showed weaker reactivity with GD1a, GM3, and LM1 but no reactivity with GM2, GM1, or asialo-GM1. In add...

Blood can form a gel when there are high concentrations of proteins, such as IgM and/or IgG antibodies, that precipitate at low temperatures (cryoglobulins) or agglutinate red blood cells (cold agglutinins) (1, 2 ). A bone marrow biopsy performed on this patient revealed Waldenström macroglobulinemia, which produces large amounts of IgM (3, 4). Warming this patient’s sample in a water bath, kee...

Anticardiolipin antibody levels were measured in 57 patients with Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection and 21 patients with other infections. Significantly more patients in the mycoplasma group had increased IgM and IgG anticardiolipin. Within the mycoplasma group significantly higher titres were found in patients with severe infection (assessed by need for hospital admission) and in patients with c...

Cold agglutinins (CAs) are IgM autoantibodies characterized by their ability to agglutinate in vitro RBC at low temperatures. These autoantibodies cause hemolytic anemia in patients with CA disease. Many diverse Ags are recognized by CAs, most frequently those belonging to the I/i system. These are oligosaccharides composed of repeated units of N:-acetyllactosamine, expressed on RBC. The three-...

B ACTERIA AND VIRUSES are capable of triggering the production of cold agglutinins in man and other species.1 After we had found that rabbits immunized with heat-killed Listeria monocytogenes serotype 4b produce cold agg1utinins, we investigated the capacity of other rodents for this type of response. None of the species of nuice examined were found to produce cold reacting antibodies ( CRA) in...