What is the chemical nature of Forssman antigen?
The Forssman antigen is a glycolipid with the structure GalNAcα1->3GalNAcβ1->3Galα1->4Galβ1->4Glcβ1->1Cer8.
What are the characteristics of Heterophile antibodies?
Heterophile antibodies are antibodies produced against poorly defined antigens. These are generally weak antibodies with multispecific activities. Human anti-animal antibodies that develop as a result of treatments with animal immunoglobulins are antibodies with strong avidities, produced against well-defined antigens.
What is Heterophilic antibody interference?
Heterophile antibodies are endogenous antibodies in human serum/plasma that may interfere with immunoassays resulting in false elevation, or rarely false depression of measured values.
What is forssman?
Definition of Forssman antibody : an antibody (as heterophile antibody) active against a Forssman antigen.
How do haptens work?
The hapten-carrier complex stimulates the production of antibodies, which the unbound hapten cannot do, and becomes immunogenic (capable of eliciting an immune response). The hapten then reacts specifically with the antibodies generated against it to produce an immune or allergic response.
What do autoantigens do?
Autoantigens may serve as chemoattractants that recruit innate immune cells to sites of tissue damage. A variety of autoantigens has been shown to induce leukocyte migration by interacting with various chemoattractant Gi protein–coupled receptors (GiPCRs).
Are Heterophile antibodies IGG or IgM?
Heterophile antibodies are IgM antibodies with affinity for sheep and horse red blood cells. They appear during the first week of infectious mononucleosis symptoms, 3–4 weeks after infection and return to undetectable levels 3 to 6 months after infection.
What causes positive Heterophile antibody test?
A positive test means heterophile antibodies are present. These are most often a sign of mononucleosis.
Why is Heterophile antibody produced during EBV infection?
The heterophile antibody is an immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibody produced by infected B lymphocytes. It is not directed against Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) or EBV-infected cells, but it is a result of the infection and the subsequent transformation of the B cell to a plasmacytoid state.
What does Heterophile antibody test for?
Heterophile antibody tests, including the Monospot test, are red cell or latex agglutination assays, which detect antired cell antibodies produced as part of a polyclonal antibody response occurring during EBV infection.
How does a hapten cause an allergic reaction?
What is anti-Forssman antigen?
Forssman antigen was defined by anti-Forssman antibody, as described by Forssman; once the antigen structure was identified, other structures sharing the antigen determinant were isolated.
Is Forssman antigen found in rabbits?
Forssman antigen was found to be a common antigen in guinea pig tissues and sheep red cells, as injection of a saline extract of guinea pig kidneys into rabbits led to the formation of an antiserum which lysed sheep red cells in the presence of complement [594]. Only certain animal species express Forssman antigen (Table 1 ).
What is the pathophysiology of Forssman shock?
Forssman shock is a reaction noted in guinea pigs that resembles anaphylaxis. 42 It is mediated by antibody directed against a lipopolysaccharide structural tissue antigen, the Forssman antigen. Animals are either Forssman positive or Forssman negative, depending on whether they have the enzymes necessary to form this rigid sugar side chain.
What happens if you give a guinea pig a Forssman antibody?
Intravenous injection of IgG anti-Forssman antibody into a Forssman-positive animal, such as the guinea pig, results in a striking clinical reaction. The guinea pig develops respiratory distress within minutes of the injection, caused by exudation of fluid into alveoli and bronchi.