D8/17 monoclonal antibody: an unclear neuropsychiatric marker.
OBJECTIVE
It has been hypothesized that monoclonal antibody D8/17 identifies a B lymphocyte antigen with expanded expression in patients with rheumatic fever, childhood onset obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), Tourette syndrome (TS) or prepubertal anorexia nervosa (AN). Our purpose was to replicate these studies in a Spanish population and to determine whether D8/17 identifies a subgroup of these patients, focusing especially on OCD subjects.


METHODS
D8/17 expression was assessed with double immunofluorescence and flow cytometry using monoclonal immunoglobulin M (IgM) in three groups of patients with diagnoses of OCD (n = 17), TS (n = 5) and prepubertal AN (n = 5), recruited during 2001.


RESULTS
In the sample studied the average percentage of B cells expressing D8/17 was 4.8%. The D8/17 positive proportion of B lymphocytes was above 11% in only two out of 17 OCD patients (7.4% of total sample) and in none of the TS or prepubertal AN patients. No statistically significant differences were found in mean percentages of D8/17 between the three groups.


CONCLUSIONS
In the sample studied the expression of D8/17 in B cells was very low and the great majority of patients were negative for the D8/17 marker. The molecular characterization of D8/17 would be a major step forward in clarifying its implication for these diseases.
Morer
Astrid
A
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology, Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, Spain. amorer@clinic.ud.es
Viñas
Odette
O
Lázaro
Luisa
L
Bosch
Jordi
J
Toro
Josep
J
Castro
Josefina
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000097:blood*; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D015415:Biomarkers; D007075:Immunoglobulin M