Inhibition of Vaccinial Hemagglutinins by Sera of Patients with Coronary Heart Disease and Other Chronic Illnesses

Abstract

Serum inhibitory titers to the agglutination of chicken red cells by vaccinial hemagglutinin have been measured in persons with a variety of chronic diseases and in a control sample of the general population. Between the ages of 30 and 74, elevated titers occurred in 63 per cent of the men and 56 per cent of the women with chronic diseases, but in only 40 per cent of the men and 36 per cent of the women in the "control" population. Patients with coronary heart disease tended to show the highest titers. The suggestion is made that the serum inhibitor under study may reflect, in part, relatively "nonspecific" pathological changes and tissue responses provoked by various biological stresses and is a promising approach to the recognition of cardiovascular disease and related disorders.