Anti-albumin antibodies in normal rabbit sera

Antibodies reacting with homologous glutaraldehyde (GA)-modified albumin were demonstrated in normal rabbit sera (NRS) by passive hemagglutination and direct binding assay. The ability of rabbit anti-albumin antibodies (AAA) to react with homologous GA-modified albumin was found to increase with the degree of albumin polymerization. AAA did not react with GA-treated monomeric albumin. It was proved that rabbit AAA are not species-specific since they react also with heterologous GA-polymerized albumin. The possible role of AAA in the catabolism of in vivo aged albumin molecules, antigenically similar with GA-induced albumin polymers, is discussed.