Conglutination

Article By:

Treffers, Henry P. Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.

Last reviewed:November 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.156700

A term used in serology to describe the completion or enhancement of an incomplete agglutinating system by the addition of certain substances. Some bacteria or erythrocyte suspensions do not exhibit the visible agglutination ordinarily expected after they have been coated with their specific antibodies and complement. Further addition of a conglutinating agent—normal bovine serum—however, initiates visible agglutination. Complement is an essential component of the system. The conglutination reagent is itself without effect in the absence of antibody and complement. Similar overall actions, such as agglutination of Rh⁺ cells, occur when human serum, gelatin, or bovine serum albumin are added to the incomplete Rh antibodies found in some sera; but since this enhancing effect occurs also in the absence of complement, these reactions probably are to be distinguished in mechanism from that of the traditional conglutination. See also: Blood groups

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