Cryoglobulins

Abstract

A cryoglobulin is an immunoglobulin (Ig) that precipitates when serum is incubated at a temperature of less than 37°C. Although cold-induced precipitation of serum proteins was first described in 1933, 1 the term “cryoglobulinemia” was introduced by Lerner et al. in 1947. 2 In 1966, Meltzer et al. 3 described the typical clinical symptoms associated with cryoglobulinemia, particularly the triad of purpura, arthralgia, and weakness. The existence of circulating cryoglobulins (cryoglobulinemia) is not always related to the presence of symptomatology, and we use the term “cryoglobulinemic syndrome” when patients with cryoglobulinemia have clinical manifestations.