The variability of hemolysis in the cold agglutinin syndrome.

The amount of lysis effected by cold agglutinins is directly related to the ability of the antibody to initiate complement activation. This ability is modified by the concentration of antibody, its thermal amplitude (the highest temperature at which the antibody will react with the cell), the degree to which antibody fixation is modified by the presence of complement components (particularly C3) on the membrane, and the degree to which antibody, once fixed, is able to fix the components of complement. In vitro measurement of these factors correlates with the rate of hemolysis in vivo.