Reversible Agglutination of Trypsin Treated Erythrocytes by Normal Human Sera.

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Abstract
Human erythrocytes treated with crude trypsin were agglutinated by normally compatible human serum. This agglutination was evanescent and appeared only if the cell serum mixtures were centrifuged soon after contact. Incubation at room temp. for 1 hr. resulted in complete disappearance of agglutination. The loss of agglutination was not due to loss of agglutinin but rather to an alteration in reactivity of the modified red cells with respect to this agglutinin. Contact with serum was necessary for this alteration. It was not possible to determine whether the serum contained a specific factor causing agglutination reversal or whether the serum facilitated a spontaneous change on the red cell surface. The agglutinin responsible for this phenomenon was non-dialysable, thermolabile, and sensitive to pH changes. The agglutination reversal affect, in contrast, was lost through dialysis, was thermostable and was still active in alkaline pH. In vivo alteration of erythrocytes by proteolytic enzymes may result in initiating a hemolytic episode.