title: Repertoires of natural autoantibodies against muscle tissue are independent of age or gender in normal human adults. A western blot study.
abstract: Sera from 69 healthy blood donors were screened for autoantibodies using Western blots of human muscle fractions to assess whether prevalence and repertoires of autoantibodies against muscle tissue would change with age. Each serum contained immunoglobulins binding to a broad spectrum of antigens. Their molecular masses ranged from 20 to more than 200 kDa. Although each staining pattern appeared to be a singular combination of detected bands and staining intensities, the patterns were not different in men and women. When sera were grouped according to age (decades between 10 and over 70 years) age-dependent changes were not found. Individual repertoires of natural autoantibodies against muscle tissue are complex when examined by Western blotting. Mature normal repertoires of low-affinity autoantibodies are found at the age of 10 years which is the lower cut-off in this study. The repertoires remain stable throughout a normal lifespan.
authors.affiliation: University of Tuebingen, Kliniken Schnarrenberg, Germany.
authors.forename: C W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Zimmermann
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D001324:Autoantigens / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009124:Muscle Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D009132:Muscles / Q000276:immunology*; D012727:Sex Characteristics
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D001324:Autoantigens; D009124:Muscle Proteins