title: IL-6-anti-IL-6 autoantibody complexes with IL-6 activity in sera from some patients with systemic sclerosis.
abstract: Anti-IL-6 IgG autoantibodies, often found in sera from patients with systemic sclerosis, may increase to the level sufficient to bind significant amounts of IL-6 in serum. In our study of the role of anti-IL-6 autoantibodies in serum, we found that some sera with the autoantibodies possessed considerably higher IL-6 levels (more than 100 pg/ml) compared with most of sera without the autoantibodies. Size-exclusion HPLC of the sera with these autoantibodies demonstrated that a significant part of the serum IL-6 activity was attributable to circulating IL-6-anti-IL-6 autoantibody complexes. Gel filtration of IL-6-anti-IL-6 IgG complexes made in vitro by incubation of rIL-6 and IgG purified from the autoantibody-positive sera demonstrated that the complexes at 200 to 250 kDa were dominant ones and that IL-6 bound to the autoantibodies retained more than 60% of the original IL-6 activity. Moreover, IL-6-anti-IL-6 autoantibody complexes were shown to bind to recombinant soluble IL-6 receptors. Estimated affinity of anti-IL-6 IgG autoantibodies from two patients was fairly high (4.2 x 10(9) to 3.3 x 10(10) L/M). Therefore, the retention of IL-6 activity by IL-6-anti-IL-6 autoantibody complexes may be explained by intact receptor-binding sites on the autoantibody-bound IL-6 molecules. Taken together, these results suggest that the properties of anti-IL-6 autoantibodies are consistent with a potential role as specific carriers for IL-6 in the circulation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takemura
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshizaki
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Koishihara
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohsugi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Okano
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Akiyama
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tojo
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kishimoto
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kashiwagi
mesh_terms: D000936:Antigen-Antibody Complex / Q000378:metabolism; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000276:immunology*; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D018123:Receptors, Interleukin / Q000378:metabolism; D019947:Receptors, Interleukin-6; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D012595:Scleroderma, Systemic / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000936:Antigen-Antibody Complex; D001323:Autoantibodies; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D015850:Interleukin-6; D018123:Receptors, Interleukin; D019947:Receptors, Interleukin-6; D011994:Recombinant Proteins