Are immunoglobulin A anti-gliadin antibodies helpful in diagnosing coeliac disease in children younger than 2 years?

The usefulness of immumoglobulin (Ig) A antibodies to gliadin (AGA-IgA) in addition to IgA anti-endomysium and tissue transglutaminase antibodies was evaluated in 4122 children younger than 2 years with a suspicion of coeliac disease (CD). Eight percent (312/4122) displayed IgA anti-endomysium and/or IgA anti-tissue transglutaminase, whereas 2.1% (85/4122) displayed only AGA-IgA. Clinical data were obtained for 62 of 85 children with isolated AGA-IgA, and 33 children underwent a duodenal biopsy. Histologically proven CD was established for 5 patients, whereas 57 children were diagnosed to experience other diseases. The systematic detection of AGA-IgA using native gliadin conferred no additional diagnostic benefit for the diagnosis of CD in children younger than 2 years of age, except for rare cases.

Prevalence of autoantibodies to cyclic citrullinated peptide in patients with rheumatic diseases other than rheumatoid arthritis: a French multicenter study.

Our objective was to evaluate the prevalence of autoantibodies to cyclic citrullinated peptides (anti-CCP aAbs) in a cohort of patients with a variety of inflammatory or non-inflammatory rheumatic diseases other than rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Six hundred and nine serum samples were tested for anti-CCP aAbs and for rheumatoid factor (RF) using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays and immunonephelometry. The prevalence of anti-CCP aAbs and RF reached 10% and 25%, respectively, using the positive cutoff value suggested by the manufacturers. Using a higher cutoff value (50 U/ml) for both aAbs, the prevalence was lower with 6% and 16%, respectively. The specificity of both markers for RA thus reached 94% and 84%, respectively. Anti-CCP aAbs were found to be elevated in inflammatory and also in non-inflammatory rheumatic diseases in the same proportion. Clinical data obtained for 36 positive patients showed that 17% developed RA within 5 years. In conclusion, anti-CCP aAbs are clearly more specific than RF for RA. Follow-up of anti-CCP aAbs-positive patients with inflammatory or non-inflammatory rheumatic diseases other than RA could be important considering the predictive value of these aAbs for the development of RA.

PNA-binding glycans are expressed at high levels on horse mature and immature T lymphocytes and a subpopulation of B lymphocytes.

In mammals, the binding of peanut agglutinin (PNA) on the plasma membrane defines subpopulations among lymphocytes from peripheral blood and lymphoid organs. PNA binds Galbeta 1,3GalNAc residues provided that they are not sialylated. Here, we studied the expression of PNA-binding glycans on healthy horse peripheral blood, thymus, lymph node and spleen lymphocytes. We first demonstrated the binding specificity of PNA for galactose residues by competition experiments and the inhibitory role of sialic acids in PNA binding by sialidase digestion. Unlike human and murine lymphocytes, all equine lymphocytes were found positive by flow cytometry analysis. Double-staining analyses showed that lymphocytes expressing high levels of PNA-binding glycans (PNA(high) lymphocytes) were made up of the great majority of CD5(+), CD4(+) and CD8(+) cells, and of 30 and 50% of sIg-bearing lymphocytes in peripheral blood and in lymph nodes or spleen, respectively. Lectin histochemistry suggested that lymph node germinal centres contained PNA(high) B cells. Contrary to what is found in humans and mice, PNA staining intensity on CD5(+), CD4(+) and CD8(+) cells did not differentiate immature from mature T lymphocytes in the equine thymus. The functional consequences of these differences are discussed.

Calcium-sensing receptor autoantibodies are relevant markers of acquired hypoparathyroidism.

We investigated the presence of autoantibodies (aAbs) directed against the parathyroid gland in 17 patients with spontaneous isolated acquired hypoparathyroidism. Fourteen patients with acquired hypoparathyroidism (AH) associated with type I or II autoimmune polyendocrinopathy syndrome were also tested in comparison with a control group of 68 subjects without AH, including patients with other autoimmune diseases and healthy blood donors. aAbs against parathyroid tissue were screened using an indirect immunofluorescence technique on primate parathyroid tissue and human parathyroid adenoma. aAbs against the calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) were analyzed using an immunoblotting assay with the recombinant extracellular domain of the human CaSR as antigen. Seven of the 31 patients with AH were positive for CaSR aAbs. Five of the positive sera were obtained from the group with isolated AH. The two other positive sera were from patients with autoimmune polyendocrinopathy syndrome. The sensitivity of the immunoblotting technique was higher than that of both the radioimmunological test using the extracellular domain of the CaSR and the indirect immunofluorescence technique. There were no positive sera in the control group. In conclusion, using an immunoblotting assay, we demonstrate the presence of CaSR aAbs in about one third of the patients with isolated AH, pointing out the value of detecting such aAbs to assess the autoimmune origin of the disease.

Cross-species reactivity of seven monoclonal antibodies with equine lymphocytes by flow cytometry.

The recognition of equine lymphocyte antigens by monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) directed against human CD11a, CD18, CD21, CD23, CD29 and DR, as well as mouse CD23 was studied by flow cytometry. Unlike anti-CD11a, -CD21, -CD23 and DR mAbs, anti-CD18 and CD29 mAbs labelled the same percentage of horse peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) as human PBL. Double-staining with anti-horse immunoglobulin antibodies showed that anti-CD21 and -CD23 mAbs are mainly bound to peripheral blood B lymphocytes. The seven mAbs were also tested on the lymph node and thymus cells. The molecular targets of anti-CD11a, CD18 and CD29 mAbs were confirmed by immunoprecipitation of the membrane proteins. Our results suggest that anti-CD18, -CD29 and -DR mAbs recognise similarly expressed molecular homologues on equine cells, but that anti-CD11a, -CD21 and -CD23 mAbs recognise either different molecules or homologues that are expressed at different levels on horse cells.

Improvement in diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis using dual indirect immunofluorescence and immunoblotting assays for antifilaggrin autoantibodies: a retrospective 3 year study.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the clinical usefulness of measuring antistratum corneum (ASC) and antifilaggrin autoantibodies (AFA) to discriminate between rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other rheumatic or autoimmune diseases, using an indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) assay, along with a complementary immunoblotting technique (IB) when IIF detection of ASC was negative. METHODS: Sera from 346 patients were studied: 189 sera from patients with RA seen in the same clinic, 92 from patients with non-RA rheumatic diseases, 24 from nonrheumatic autoimmune diseases, and 41 from healthy blood donors. ASC and AFA were detected using IIF and IB, respectively. RESULTS: ASC detection using IIF showed a specificity of 97.5% for RA with 44.4% sensitivity. When both IIF and IB techniques were used, sensitivity for RA increased significantly (up to 53.4%; p < 0.01) with no decrease in specificity (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: These data confirm the usefulness of 2 different techniques performed simultaneously for detecting ASC/AFA, and the usefulness of these biological markers for discriminating between RA and other rheumatic diseases in clinical practice.