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Some Quantitative Aspects of Immune Hemolysis

Division of Infectious Diseases, The Public Health Research Institute of The City of New York, Inc.

Abstract

1. Factors responsible for failure of lysis of sensitized red blood cells by complement have been investigated.

2. Sensitized cells have been shown to be heterogeneous with respect to lysis by complement. Such heterogeneity may be due in part to a variation in the degree of sensitization of individual cells with antibody.

3. Lysis will cease whenever complement is exhausted, but may become too slow to measure because of heterogeneity of the cells even when large amounts of complement are present.

4. Cells sensitized with large amounts of antibody deplete the complement activity rapidly. Equilibrium is attained quickly and the reaction fails mainly because of complement exhaustion. Heterogeneity of the remaining cells is of secondary significance.

5. Cells sensitized with small amounts of antibody react more slowly with complement, and lysis continues over a longer period. Accompanying decrease of complement activity is of secondary importance because of the heterogeneity of the remaining cells which react more and more slowly with complement. Lysis may continue slowly as long as active complement remains and as long as there are present cells capable of reacting with this complement in the time allowed.