Περίληψη:
In view of the frequent association between malignant
lymphoproliferative diseases and autoimmunity, we studied by ELISA the
presence, isotype, and specificity of natural antibodies in sera from 60
patients with malignant non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas and 70 healthy controls.
The antigens selected were actin, tubulin, myosin, troponin,
tropomyosin, keratin, thyroglobulin, single stranded DNA, and the hapten
trinitrophenyl. The results of this study were compared with the
presence of oligoclonal immunoglobulins in the same sera, as previously
detected by Isoelectric Focusing and Immunoblotting.
Our results showed that 1) there is a high proportion of autoreactive
NHL sera: 28 (46.6%) exhibited high IgG natural antibody activity (Nab)
against one or more panel antigens, mostly against keratin, myosin, and
tropomyosin, 26 (43.3%) had high IgA Nab activity, mainly against
myosin, keratin, and ssDNA, whereas 17 (28.3%) displayed a high IgM Nab
activity. The great majority (>80%) of positive sera was polyspecific,
i.e., reacted with at least two panel antigens. 2) A strong correlation
exists between the high serum Nab activity and the presence of
paraproteins: of the 28 sera exhibiting high IgG Nab activity, 16 (57%)
contained oligoclonal IgG, and of the 17 sera exhibiting high IgM Nab
activity, 13 (76.4%) contained oligoclonal IgM. The Nabs detected had
frequently the same heavy and light chain as the paraproteins. No
relationship between the presence of paraproteins with Nab activity and
the stage of disease or grade of malignancy was found. We conclude that
the high incidence of clonal immunoglobulins of different isotypes with
various autoantibody specifities suggests an oligoclonal lymphocyte
activation involving Nab producing cells. The significance of such
autoreactive clones in NHL patients remains to be elucidated. (C) 1994
Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Συγγραφείς:
KOURTIS, AP
BOUSSIOTIS, VA
LYMBERI, P
PANGALIS, GA
