[Cold lymphocytotoxins: their relationship with various physiological and pathological conditions]

The significance of cold lymphocytotoxins, observed at 15 degreesC, is not clearly understood at the present time. The frequency of their appearance has been studied in normal subjects (blood donors, aged people, vaccinated subjects, post-traumatic splenectomy) and in patients with a neurologic disease (multiple sclerosis), a neoplasic disease (breast cancer)and hematologic diseases (thrombocytopenia, acute leukemia, chronic lymphatic leukemia, Hodgkin disease and systemic lupus erythematosus). There are no antibodies found in the geriatric group; they are found only in 3,9 % of blood donors and in 18 % of the subjects after vaccinations. A range of 17 to 30 % is found in subjects with breast cancer or multiple sclerosis. More than 50 % of the individuals with Hodgkin disease or lupus erythematosus produce these antibodies (52 % and 73 % respectively). In acute leukemias and chronic lymphatic leukemias, lymphocytotoxic antibodies sometimes appear at 37 degrees, reacting with autologous cells and having no HL-A specificity.