title: The frequency of occurrence of anti-cardiac receptor autoantibodies and their correlation with clinical manifestation in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the frequency of occurrence of autoantibodies against G-protein coupled cardiovascular receptors and their relation to the clinical manifestation of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Autoantibodies against beta1-receptors, Muscarin-2-receptors, Angiotensin-II-receptor subtype 1 and alpha1-receptors were determined with ELISA in 52 patients with HCM (37 male, 15 female, mean age 55 +/- 15 years) and 40 healthy, age and sex matched controls. The clinical characterization of the HCM-patients included ECG, 24-h Holter, and echocardiography. The results showed that there is no significant difference in the frequency of a single autoantibody between HCM-patients and controls. However, if the number of patients who have autoantibodies against beta1-receptors and/or Muscarin-2-receptors were counted together, there are significantly more autoantibodies in HCM compared to controls (11 vs. 2, p = 0.035). Analysis of clinical data from this pooled group of patients showed that in patients with autoantibodies, heart rate variability (HRV), ultra low frequency (ULF) and very low frequency (VLF) were decreased (HRV by 20%, ULF by 50%, and VLF by 46%, p < 0.008) whereas the QTc-interval was increased by 8% (p < 0.02 each). The ratio of septal to posterior wall thickness was increased by 23% (p = 0.05), and the preejection period was prolonged by 46% in patients with autoantibodies (p < 0.001). These results suggest that the existence of these autoantibodies could be associated with an advanced stage or a severe manifestation of HCM.
authors.affiliation: Franz-Volhard-Klinik, Humboldt-University of Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Peukert
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Eftekhari
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Poepping
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Voss
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Thalhammer
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hempel
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Menz
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dietz
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Osterziel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000276:immunology*; D002312:Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic / Q000276:immunology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009206:Myocardium / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D011942:Receptors, Adrenergic, alpha / Q000276:immunology; D011943:Receptors, Adrenergic, beta / Q000276:immunology; D011945:Receptors, Angiotensin / Q000276:immunology; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000276:immunology*; D011976:Receptors, Muscarinic / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D011942:Receptors, Adrenergic, alpha; D011943:Receptors, Adrenergic, beta; D011945:Receptors, Angiotensin; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D011976:Receptors, Muscarinic; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins