Anti-A-like and anti-B-like cold auto-hemagglutinins in a patient with malignant lymphoma and healthy individuals.

A cold auto-hemagglutinin with anti-B-like specificity was found in the serum of a group B patient with malignant lymphoma. The auto-hemagglutinin reacted only with B (adult) red cells and was inhibited by B secretor saliva. The appearance of this hemagglutinin in the patient's serum was transient. The presence of cold auto-hemagglutinins with anti-A-like and/or anti-B-like specificities was also demonstrated in sera from 15 (14.4%) of 104 group A1B healthy Japanese adults. The immunological features of these cold auto-hemagglutinins were similar to those of the anti-B-like hemagglutinin in the patient with malignant lymphoma.