Red blood cell cold agglutinins and B lymphocyte cytotoxins in breast cancer sera

An immunosorbent assay for blood group I antigens in breast carcinoma

Tumor cells elaborate and release into the circulation a variety of glycoproteins. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed to monitor carbohydrate structures secreted into the circulation. Among these antigens are the structures specific for the blood group I antigens, which are incompletely converted to ABH antigens on the membranes of tumor cells. The I antigens in the sera of 67 women with breast carcinoma (BCa), 58 with benign breast disease (BBD), and 47 controls were measured by the ELISA. In this assay, I antigen from ovarian cyst mucin was bound to the wells of polystyrene microtiter plates. The monoclonal human anti-I antibody (Hy) was added to the wells along with perchloric acid extracts of patient and control sera at five different dilutions. The anti-I binding to the solid-phase I antigen was determined after incubation steps with peroxidase-labeled anti-human IgM and substrate. The amount of sera extracts giving 50% inhibition of anti-I (Hy) binding was determined from the inhibition curves which were corrected by integrating the slope values into that of the standard curve obtained with extracts of normal sera. The I antigens were significantly higher in pathologic stage (PS) IV sera (P less than 0.001), and comparable in PS I, PS II, and PS III and BBD sera to those in control sera. The anti-I (Hy) binds strongly Gal 1,4 GlcNAc 1,6 Gal (alpha GalNAc); Gal 1,4 GlcNAc 1,6 (Gal 1,4 GlcNAc 1,3) Gal; and to a lesser extent Gal 1,4 GlcNAc 1,3 Gal 1,4 GlcNAc (0.06, 0.09, and 0.35 mM, giving 50% inhibition, respectively). It was concluded that similar or related structures may be expressed on the membrane of metastatic BCa cells.

A new cold agglutinin from Achatina fulica snails

An electrophoretically homogeneous agglutinin was purified from the albumin gland of Achatina fulica snails using asialofetunin-Sepharose 4B as an affinity column. The agglutinin was found to be temperature sensitive; it agglutinated rabbit and human umbilical cord erythrocytes only at low temperature. It was found to be specific for methyl-beta-D-galactoside, and the best inhibitor was N-acetyllactosamine.

Serum cold agglutinin and IgM levels in breast carcinoma

Breast carcinoma (BCa) cells produce I antigen or I antigen-like substances that may influence serum anti-I. We determined cold hemagglutinins in 170 BCa patients, 97 women with benign breast disease, and 37 female controls of comparable ages to the patients. The results were expressed as an anti-I score. Serum IgM was measured by radial immunodiffusion. The data for the BCa patients were analyzed by pathologic stage (PS) and histologic category. The anti-I score for PS III (28.1 +/- 13.0; mean +/- S.D.) was higher (p less than 0.02), and that for PS IV (11.4 +/- 7.4) lower (p less than 0.02) than the control value (17.7 +/- 10.2). IgM concentrations of the BCa patients as a group or by PS were similar to those of the controls. The mean anti-I scores were higher in mucinous (31.1 +/- 14.9, p less than 0.001) and apocrine BCa (28.6 +/- 16.2, p less than 0.02) compared to the control value. IgM concentrations were elevated in mucinous (218.1 +/- 85.8 mg/dl, p less than 0.01) and apocrine BCa (241.9 +/- 99.0, p less than 0.005) compared to the control value (157.1 +/- 66.9). The results suggest an association of anti-I scores and PS of BCa and suggest an antigenic difference of mucinous and apocrine from infiltrative ductal BCa.

Effect of ABO group, secretor status and sex on cold hemagglutinins in normal adults

The ABO group, Lewis type and secretor status were determined in 546 normal individuals (241 male, 305 female). Their serum was tested at 4 degrees C for agglutination of group O red blood cells; the antibody was presumed to be auto-anti-I; the results were expressed as a score. Among non-A female donors, the score was higher for secretors than nonsecretors (p less than 0.05). Among non-A secretors of both sexes, female donors had a higher score than male donors (p less than 0.05). These results suggest that the level of anti-I in the serum of normal individuals may be affected by the donor's ABO group, secretor status and sex.