The Latex-fixation Test in Patients with Liver Disease

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Abstract
Macroglobulins which agglutinate particles such as red blood cells, latex or Bentonite which have been sensitized with 7S gamma globulin can be demonstrated in the serum of most patients with established, active peripheral rheumatoid arthritis. Mac roglobulins which behave similarly in these test systems are demonstrable, less frequently, in the serum of patients with sarcoidosis, syphilis, pulmonary fibrosis, many acute viral illnesses, Kala azar, subacute bacterial endocarditis and liver disease. They have been produced in experimental animals submitted to a repeated antigenic challenge. This paper reports the results of latex fixation tests for this agglutinating factor in 75 patients with cirrhosis, 59 patients with viral hepatitis, and smaller groups with a variety of other hepatic diseases. The results in cirrhotic patients suggest that the presence of an agglutinating macroglobulin is not uncommon, that its presence is most frequent with acute inflammatory stages of the cirrhotic process and that it heralds a bad prognosis. In patients with viral hepatitis, the presence of an agglutinating macro-globulin is apparently an acute phase phenomeon which was demonstrated in 50% of our patients and which disappears with convalescence much as has been reported in subacute bacterial endocarditis. Its continued presence may suggest continuing hepatic disease or an incorrect diagnosis.