Cellular immune response to Klebsiella pneumoniae antigens in patients with HLA-B27+ ankylosing spondylitis.
OBJECTIVE
To study the reactivity of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and healthy controls to Klebsiella pneumoniae antigens and to the GroEL-like proteins from K. pneumoniae (HSP60Kp) and Mycobacterium leprae recombinant heat shock protein 65 (rHSP65Ml).


METHODS
PBMC of 13 patients with AS and 9 with RA and 10 controls were stimulated in vitro by heat shock induced K. pneumoniae antigens in a cell blot assay, by insolubilized HSP60Kp, by cytosolic proteins (CP) from K. pneumoniae cultivated at 37 degrees C or 45 degrees C, by soluble HSP60Kp, or by rHSP65Ml.


RESULTS
In the cell blot assay 7/13 AS and 3/9 RA patients responded to fraction 4, which contains mainly HSP60Kp, and no controls responded (AS vs. controls: p = 0.007). The response to the insolubilized HSP60Kp was positive in 6/13 AS patients but negative in RA patients and controls (p = 0.004). The response to CP45 degrees C was positive in 7/13 AS, in 2/9 RA, and no controls (AS vs controls: p<0.015). Response to the soluble HSP60Kp was found in 7/13 AS and 5/9 RA patients, but no controls (AS vs. controls: p = 0.0075). Response to rHSP65Ml was positive in 3/13 AS, 7/9 RA patients, and 1/10 controls (AS vs RA: p = 0.027; RA vs. controls: p = 0.005; AS vs. controls: nonsignificant).


CONCLUSIONS
In PBMC of the majority of patients with AS and in some with RA, but not in healthy controls, there are cells that proliferate in the presence of HSP60 of K. pneumoniae.
Domínguez-López
M L
ML
Departamento de Inmunología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, DF México.
Cancino-Díaz
M E
ME
Jiménez-Zamudio
L
L
Granados-Arreola
J
J
Burgos-Vargas
R
R
García-Latorre
E
E
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D002455:Cell Division / Q000276:immunology; D018834:Chaperonin 60 / Q000276:immunology; D018833:Chaperonins / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D015796:HLA-B27 Antigen / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular / Q000276:immunology; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007710:Klebsiella Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D007711:Klebsiella pneumoniae / Q000276:immunology*; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009166:Mycobacterium leprae / Q000276:immunology; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D013167:Spondylitis, Ankylosing / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology*
D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D018834:Chaperonin 60; D015796:HLA-B27 Antigen; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C074119:heat-shock protein 65, Mycobacterium; D018833:Chaperonins