Anti-subnucleosome reactivities in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients and their first-degree relatives

Chandra Mohan, F. Liu, C. Xie, R. C. Williams

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

19 Scopus citations

Abstract

Antibodies specific for dsDNA appear to have different genetic origins and pathogenic consequences, compared with histone/dsDNA-specific antibodies, in a recently described murine model. The purpose of this study was to examine if this is also true in human lupus. Sera from 40 SLE families (comprising 40 probands and 153 first-degree relatives), and 45 normal adult controls were assayed for the levels of anti-dsDNA, anti-H1/dsDNA, anti-H2A/H2B/dsDNA, and anti-H3/H4/dsDNA autoantibodies by ELISA. Both the probands and the first-degree relatives exhibited significantly increased levels of antinuclear antibodies (ANA) targeting the different subnucleosomal epitopes. Importantly, probands with anti-dsDNA antibodies had a significantly higher incidence of renal disease compared with those with just anti-H2A/H2B/dsDNA antibodies, in resonance with murine studies. The frequency of anti-dsDNA and anti-H2A/H2B/DNA ANA among the first-degree relatives was 11.8% and 18.3%, respectively. Surprisingly, whereas probands with anti-dsDNA ANA had families with several seropositive members, first-degree relatives of patients with anti-H2A/H2B/DNA ANA (but not anti-dsDNA ANA) were uniformly ANA-free. These findings suggest that anti-dsDNA ANA in lupus may not only have worse disease associations, they may also have very different genetic origins, compared with anti-H2A/H2B/DNA (or anti-nucleosome) ANA.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)119-126
Number of pages8
JournalClinical and Experimental Immunology
Volume123
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 2001

Keywords

  • Antinuclear antibodies
  • Chromatin
  • Genetics
  • Lupus nephritis
  • Nucleosomes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Immunology and Allergy
  • Immunology

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