Isolation of autologous antibodies to antigens-associated with Hodgkin's disease.

Antibodies to antigens presumably associated with Hodgkin's (HD) and antigens associated with HD and Non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) have been isolated by an immunosorbent procedure using serum of an untreated patient with HD and his affected splenic tissue immobilized in polyacrylamide gel. Antibodies bound to the immoblized antigens were eluted with 3 M NaSCN. The IgG fraction was isolated by chromatography, labelled with 125iodine, and tested in a solid-phase radioimmunoassay with immobilized antigen prepared from spleens of patients with HD, NHL, normal splenic tissue or tissue culture cell lines. Direct binding assays, antibody competition assays and absorption studies with immobilized antigens gave evidence that the reagent prepared detects antigens associated with lymphomas in general and presumably HD-associated antigens at least in five cases.