Hemolytic anemia in agammaglobulinemic chickens: a model of "autoimmune" disease in immune deficiency
Weiden, P.L.; Blaese, R.M.
Journal of Immunology 107(4): 1004-1013
1971
ISSN/ISBN: 0022-1767 PMID: 4999255 Document Number: 35661
Chicks with less than 0.5% of normal immunoglobulin levels develop haemolytic anaemia with variable frequency. Autologous r.b.c. survival studies (using labelled cells) demonstrated a survival of 15 days in the anaemic chicks compared with 30 days in normal chicks. The survival of normal r.b.c. in Ig-deficient anaemic chickens was normal whereas the survival of r.b.c. from Ig-deficient chicks was briefer in three of four normal chicks. These r.b.c. were specifically agglutinated by an antibody present in the normal serum of several species. Infective agents were not identified in affected chickens. The absence of an autoantibody in this haemolytic anaemia, which is similar to that described in other species as 'autoimmune,' was consistent with the concept that autoantibodies may not play a primary pathogenetic role in at least some phenomena generally characterized as autoimmune. The most likely aetiological factor in the haemolytic anaemia might by an unidentified infective agent.