Elevation of anti-cytokeratin 18 antibody and circulating cytokeratin 18: anti-cytokeratin 18 antibody immune complexes in sera of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
In this study, we hypothesize that anti-cytokeratin 18 (CK18) antibody and CK18:anti-CK18 immune complex increase in sera in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). To prove the existence of anti-CK18 antibodies in patients' sera, bovine CK18 was stained with patients' sera using a Western blotting. In patients with IPF, anti-CK18 antibodies were clearly demonstrated in sera by Western blotting. Then, we tried to establish an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to quantify anti-CK18 antibodies and CK18:anti-CK18 immune complexes in sera of patients with IPF. Levels of anti-human CK18 antibodies in sera of patients with IPF (0.81 +/- 0.31, mean +/- SD) measured by ELISA were significantly high compared with that of normal volunteers (0.45 +/- 0.06, p < 0.01). In addition, levels of CK18:anti-CK18 antibody complexes in patients' sera (0.64 +/- 0.35, man +/- SD) significantly increased compared with those of normal subjects (0.40 +/- 0.10, p < 0.01). These results suggest that anti-CK18 antibody and its immune complex may have played a role in the process of lung injury in IPF.
Dobashi
N
N
First Department of Internal Medicine, Kagawa Medical University, Kagawa, Japan.
Fujita
J
J
Murota
M
M
Ohtsuki
Y
Y
Yamadori
I
I
Yoshinouchi
T
T
Ueda
R
R
Bandoh
S
S
Kamei
T
T
Nishioka
M
M
Ishida
T
T
Takahara
J
J
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000936:Antigen-Antibody Complex / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D001323:Autoantibodies; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002455:Cell Division / Q000276:immunology; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007633:Keratins / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D011650:Pulmonary Alveoli / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D011658:Pulmonary Fibrosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
D000936:Antigen-Antibody Complex; D001323:Autoantibodies; D015415:Biomarkers; D007633:Keratins