Antiendothelial Cell Antibodies: Useful Markers of Systemic Sclerosis
Section snippets
Source of Sera
Sixty-seven Caucasian patients with SSc were recruited by faculty members in the Institute of Rheumatology at the University of Moscow, Russia, all fulfilling the American College of Rheumatology preliminary criteria for definite SSc.[18] Patients with skin thickening confined to face and extremities were classified as having lSSc (n = 36; 33 women and 3 men aged 18 to 75 years; skin score 8.1 ± 3.1), of whom 20 had CREST syndrome since at least 4 of the 5 CREST features were observed during
Antiendothelial Cell Activity
In the global test, the mean BI of AECA (Fig. 1) were 6.9 ± 5.9% in the normal controls, 20.2 ± 12.4% in the patients with PRP (P = 0.0001, compared with the controls), 34.9 ± 20.1% in those with lSSc (P = 0.032, compared with the PRP patients), and 52.4 ± 28.6% in those with dSSc (P = 0.0078, compared with the lSSc patients). Assuming that the cut-off value is 24.6% (mean of normal controls +3 SD), AECA were found to be present in 3 patients with PRP (23%; 5 patients, 38%, were positive if 2
Discussion
The reduction of ACE activity is not a very sensitive indicator of immunological injury to the endothelium in SSc, possibly because of differences in the alleles of the ACE gene.[27] As discussed in depth by Blann et al,[24] circulating vWfAg originates in the endothelium. Similarly, Tm, an EC-specific glycoprotein, is liberated by damage to these cells. We have therefore examined plasma from patients with PRP, lSSc, and dSSc for evidence of EC injury, finding slightly reduced activity of ACE
Acknowledgements
We gratefully acknowledge Doctor Cora-Jean S. Edgell (Chapel Hill, NC) for generously providing the EA.hy926 and A549/8 cells. Thanks are also due to Doctor James B. Peter (Santa Monica, CA) and to Professor Peter M. Lydyard (London, UK) for their helpful comments, and to Mrs Annie Paul for her expert secretarial assistance.
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2017, Autoimmunity ReviewsCitation Excerpt :29 articles investigating EC apoptosis and possible biomarkers were selected for this topic. Described biomarkers are: anti-endothelial cell antibodies (AECA) (through antibody dependent cell mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC)) [3,37,45–57], immunoglobulin (Ig) G anti-caspase-3 antibodies (Ab) [58], caspase-3 [59], gamma-interferon-inducible protein (IFI)-16 Ab [60,61], bone morphogenetic protein receptor II (BMPRII) [62], circulating endothelial cells (CEC) [31,63], osteoprotegerin (OPG) and TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) [64], membrane attack complex of complement (MAC) [65], collagen V [66], microparticles (MPs) [14,67,68] and Fos-related antigen-2 (Fra-2) [69]. Most markers of EC apoptosis were elevated in the sera of SSc patients (Table 2).
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