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The Interactions of the Erythrocytes of Various Species with Agglutinins of Abrus Precatorius Linn

From the Division of Biochemistry, Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Karachi, Pakistan, and the Department of Biochemistry, Post Graduate Medical Centre, Jinnah Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan

Abstract

The action of agglutinin from Abrus precatorius was tested against the red cells of human A, B, O groups and fifteen other animals. Using the tube method and at low protein concentrations it was possible to distinguish between individual animals having very similar habits, e.g., guinea pig and rabbit; mouse and rat; cow and buffalo, etc. The agglutinin showed very poor activity towards cow, sheep and goat. Attempts have also been made to separate the various protein fractions present in the sodium chloride extract of the seeds of Abrus precatorius on a paper electrophoretogram. It was noted that two different proteins are responsible for toxicity and hemagglutination. The agglutinin forms 30% of the total extractable protein while the toxin is only 10%; the remaining 60% shows no physiologic activity. It has also been pointed out that at lower concentrations Abrus agglutinins can be used in forensic pathology to narrow down the possible sources of a specimen of blood.