INHERITED ANTIGENIC DIFFERENCES IN HUMAN SERUM BETA LIPOPROTEINS. A SECOND ANTISERUM

Abstract

A second human antiserum (New York antiserum) obtained from a transfused patient is described. It reacts with a low-density [beta]-lipoprotein present in the serum of some normal persons, but not others. The lipoprotein with which New York antiserum reacts (Ag(b+) protein) is antigenically different from that with which the first discovered antiserum (C. de B. antiserum) reacts (Ag(a+) protein). No difference in electrophoretic mobility between the two was detected. Preliminary family studies in a Micronesian population indicate that the presence of the Ag(b+) lipoprotein is inherited as a simple, autosomal, dominant trait. Mother-child studies are consistent with the hypothesis that the Ag(b+) material is not produced at birth, but sometime later. In some cases, the maternal Ag(b+) specificity may pass the placental barrier and enter the circulation of the fetus. The antigen antibody precipitin line has esterase activity.