The phenomenon of immune adherence was first described by Lavern and Mesnil1 and Levaditi2 at the beginning of this century. In 1953, Nelson3 defined the general principle that antigen-antibody complement complex adheres to primate erythrocytes or to nonprimate platelets and postulated the concept of immune adherence for this fundamental immunological phenomenon.
Immune adherence hemagglutination technique (IAHA) and the participation of complement components in this reaction were described by Nishioka (1963)4 and by Nishioka and Linscott (1963).1 We found that the first four complement components, ie, Cl, C4, C2, and C3 reacted with antigen-antibody complex which resulted in positive adherence of human erythrocytes. This finding led to the discovery of other complement components required for immune hemolysis.
If constant amounts of any two of the three variables (antigen, antibody, and complement) are employed, the third variable can be quantitated. This method measures as little as