Anti-PDGFR-α antibodies measured by non-bioactivity assays are not specific for systemic sclerosis
Anti-PDGFR-α antibodies measured by non-bioactivity assays are not specific for systemic sclerosis
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DOI：
10.1136/ard.2007.085480
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发表时间：
2008-07-01
影响因子：
27.4
通讯作者：
Vilardell-Tarres, M.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Balada, E.;Simeon-Aznar, C. P.;Vilardell-Tarres, M.
Objective: To evaluate the presence of anti-PDGFR-alpha antibodies by immunological methods in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc).Methods: Fifty-eight women diagnosed with SSc and 36 healthy women controls were included. IgG anti-PDGFR-alpha were measured by ELISA and immunoblot. Associations with clinical and immunological findings were also studied.Results: Non-significant differences were detected between patients with SSc and controls: median value 0.287 (range 0-2.06) versus median value 0.226 (range 0-2.94), respectively (p = 0.583). No correlation between the presence of anti-PDGFR-alpha antibodies and clinical and serological features was found. Serum samples from patients with SSc and healthy people who had high titres of anti-PDGFR-alpha antibodies by ELISA recognised the same band corresponding to PDGFR-alpha by immunoblot.Conclusion: Although anti-PDGFR-alpha antibodies seem to be disease-specific when determined by bioactivity assays, these antibodies are also detected in normal subjects when immunological methods are used. Thus, anti-PDGFR-alpha antibodies may arise from natural autoantibodies. Possibly, SSc autoantibodies recognise a different epitope on the PDGFR-alpha molecule which triggers its stimulatory effect when analysed by functional assays. Alternatively, naturally occurring autoantibodies may even become pathogenic after affinity maturation and class switching in genetically susceptible subjects.
