Reduced antibody response in patients with chronic renal failure undergoing hemodialysis with formaldehyde sterilized units.

In an attempt to explain the relatively low incidence of antibody production seen in patients undergoing regular hemodialysis, sera from 200 patients were exposed to formaldehyde under conditions similar to those during dialysis. It was found that this procedure substantially reduced antibody titers, except when the initial titer was very high. The danger of missing low antibody titers after dialysis is pointed out.