Question

Cold agglutination test definition in microbiology

Answer 1

Cold agglutinins are autoantibodies produced by a person's immune system that mistakenly target red blood cells (RBCs). This test detects and measures the amount of cold agglutinins in the blood.

When the presence of cold agglutinins in a person's blood leads to significant RBC destruction, it can cause hemoglobin anemia and lead to a low RBC count and hemoglobin. This rare form of autoimmune hemolytic anemia is known as cold agglutinin disease. Cold agglutinin disease may be primary or secondary, induced by some other disease or condition.