ABSTRACT
IgA antibodies to Klebsiella pneumoniae var oxytoca and Proteus mirabilis were measured in 66 patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and 31 with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and in 51 healthy control subjects, using an immunoblotting technique. The number of antigenic bands to klebsiella on nitrocellulose membrane was higher in 28 patients with active AS than in 38 patients with inactive AS, 31 patients with RA, and 51 healthy control subjects; comparatively smaller increases were found against proteus. In two patients with AS the synovial fluid and the corresponding serum sample showed an identical antibody pattern. Increases in IgA antibodies to klebsiella in patients with AS confirm previous studies using other techniques.
Subject(s)
Antibodies, Bacterial/analysis , Immunoglobulin A/analysis , Klebsiella Infections/immunology , Klebsiella pneumoniae/immunology , Spondylitis, Ankylosing/immunology , Adult , Arthritis, Rheumatoid/immunology , Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel/methods , Female , Humans , Immunoblotting/methods , Male , Middle Aged , Proteus Infections/immunology , Proteus mirabilis/immunology , Spondylitis, Ankylosing/microbiologyABSTRACT
Antibodies to Klebsiella, but not to other bacteria, have been shown to be present in patients with active ankylosing spondylitis (AS) by seven different techniques. Antibodies to Proteus, but not to E. coli or Klebsiella, have been shown to be present in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by three different techniques. It is suggested AS and RA are forms of reactive arthritis, to Klebsiella and Proteus respectively, probably mediated by cross-reactivity to HLA antigens.
