Difference Between Agglutinogens and Agglutinins

The key difference between Agglutinogens and Agglutinins is that the agglutinogens are any type of antigens or foreign bodies which activate the making of agglutinin antibodies while the agglutinins are antibodies generating by our immune system against antigens.

Agglutination is the process of forming aggregations due to the combination of antibodies with antigens. It involves two steps; initial binding or the sensitization and lattice formation. It is a kind of immune response to remove pathogenic microbes and substances out from our body. Agglutination is used to detect blood groups and other pathological entities.

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What are Agglutinogens
3. What are Agglutinins
4. Similarities Between Agglutinogens and Agglutinins
5. Side by Side Comparison – Agglutinogens vs Agglutinins in Tabular Form
6. Summary

What are Agglutinogens?

Agglutinogens are the particulate antigens that form clumps during agglutination. These antigenic structures stimulate the formation of agglutinin in the blood serum. Agglutinogens can be infectious particles or foreign bodies such as bacteria, viruses, toxins, etc. Thus, they are able to activate the immune system to produce antibodies. When the immune system detects the presence of agglutinogen, it produces agglutinin antibodies and makes them bind and form aggregates. These aggregates are then removed from the body. Agglutination refers to the overall process of this.

What are Agglutinins?

Agglutinins are the specific types of antibodies that the immune system produce in response of detecting antigenic substances. They involve agglutination reactions. Antibodies are proteins, and they bind with antigens and react. As a result of this binding, they form clumps that our immune system can easily destroy. Special immune cell type called B cells synthesizes these antibodies.

Difference Between Agglutinogens and Agglutinins

Figure 01: Agglutinins

Moreover, Agglutinins have multiple binding sites or arms that can bind with the particular antigens. They behave like glues and make antigens to adhere to their binding sites.

What are the Similarities Between Agglutinogens and Agglutinins?

Both agglutinogens and agglutinins are mostly proteins.
They involve antigen-antibody reactions in our body.
Both together form clumps or aggregates.

What is the Difference Between Agglutinogens and Agglutinins?

Agglutinogens are antigenic substances that stimulate the formation of specific agglutinin antibodies. Agglutinins are the specific antibodies produced by the immune system. Agglutinins are proteins, and they have multiple arms to catch antigens. When agglutinogens bind with agglutinins, clumps or aggregates form and then the pathogens can be easily removed from our body. The below infographic presents the difference between agglutinogens and agglutinins in tabular form.

Summary – Agglutinogens vs Agglutinins

Agglutinogens are substances that can penetrate through the body and stimulate immunological reactions in our body. They are infectious particles or foreign bodies such as bacteria, toxins, viruses, etc. On the other hand, agglutinins are a type of antibodies, which recognize these agglutinogens. Moreover, they are proteins that B cell produce. They have binding sites for agglutinogens and make clumps. This process is the agglutination. Once antibodies bound with antigens, they can be easily destroyed and removed from our body. This is the difference between agglutinogens and agglutinins.