Serologic Activity of Fatty Acid Dependent Antibodies in Albumin‐Free Systems

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Abstract
Fatty acid dependent agglutinin (FADA) [human] refers to serum with the special ability to cause agglutination of red blood cells in the presence of certain fatty acids. The agglutinating mechanism is unclear. It was proposed that the agglutinin reacts with albumin that was conformationally altered by sodium caprylate and that the immune complex is passively adsorbed onto red blood cells. Data that contradicts the proposal, assigning a specific role to albumin in the agglutinating mechanism, is presented. FADA were isolated by column chromatography of resolubilized euglobulin preparations. No evidence of contamination with albumin was obtained in those IgM [immunoglobulin M] fractions possessing FADA activity. As an alternative explanation, it is proposed that the serologic activity of FADA depends on the interaction of IgM agglutinins with haptenic fatty acids.