Heterophile Antibodies And Cold Hemagglutinins Extracted From Spleen in Infectious Mononucleosis And Lymphoma

Abstract

An unusual opportunity was afforded us to study the antibody content of pathologic spleens from two patients who underwent splenectoamy; one for spontaneous rupture of the spleen in infectious mononucleosis and the other for splenomegaly and chronic thrombocytopenia. We were unable to find significant information in the literature concerning the recovery of antibodies from human tissue except for a report by Aubert and Brendemoen who extracted hemagglutinins from a lymphomatous tissue obtained at autopsy from a case of acquired hemolytic anemia. Reports consulted on extracting antibodies from animal skin and lymph nodes following active immunization contained details on technic and relationship between serum and tissue antibody concentration. Our procedure for extracting human spleen is a modification of the method used by De Gara and Angevine in post-immunized animals.