Mixed agglutination with guinea pig tissue sediments for detection of heterophile antibodies.

Mixed agglutination (MA) test with sediments of guinea pig kidney (GPK) homogenates and indicator red blood cells of bovine (BRBC) or sheep (SRBC) origin was established for detection of human heterophile antibodies. By means of MA test with BRBC indicator cells, heterophile antibodies of Hanganutziu-Deicher (H-D) specificity were demonstrated in sera of patients with syphilis (20%), lepromatous leprosy (57%), infectious mononucleosis (45%), Chediak-Higashi syndrome (73%), Kawasaki disease (58%), multiple sclerosis (58%), and leukemias (13%), as well as in sera of subjects who received injections of foreign species sera (20%). Some but not all BRBC-positive sera gave positive MA tests when SRBC were employed as indicator cells. None of 13 multiple myeloma sera tested gave positive results. The incidence of positive reactions in normal human sera was 3%. Neutralization of H-D antibodies in representative pathologic sera by purified heterophile antigens showed that the antibodies under investigation were mostly directed against antigen(s) of high molecular weight glycoprotein, but not N-glycolyl-neuraminic acid (NGNA) ganglioside fraction of BRBC.