LOSS OF ACTIVITY DURING FRACTIONATION OF SOME HUMAN SPERMAGGLUTINATING SERA

While studying spermagglutinating sera, a number of sera which were positive in a microagglutination test (Franklin & Dukes, 1964), but which were negative in a macroscopic test in gelatin medium (Kibrick, Belding & Merrill, 1952) were found (Boettcher, Kay, Rümke & Wright, 1971). It appears that the agglutinins in these sera are not immunoglobulins (Boettcher & Kay, 1969; Boettcher, Hay, Kay, Baldo & Roberts, 1970). During procedures for fractionating these sera, much of the activity is often lost. One cause of the loss is dialysis. Sera, dialysed overnight against phosphate-buffered saline, have shown marked decreases in their spermagglutinating activities, though their haemagglutinating activities have been unaltered (Boettcher & Kay, 1969; Boettcher et al., 1970).Reported here are the results of experiments designed to determine whether the