title: Antiphospholipid syndrome associated with infections: clinical and microbiological characteristics.
abstract: Antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) were originally detected in human serum almost 100 years ago when the Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) test was described. A phospholipid called cardiolipin was the major tissue extract utilized in performing these tests. In 1983, cardiolipin was used for the first time as the antigen in solid-phase aPL specific assays for the now termed antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). Since then, many infections have been found to be associated with aPL positivity, although a pathogenic role for these antibodies was not usually obvious except in a few isolated cases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Autoimmune Diseases, Institut Clínic de Medicina i Dermatologia, Hospital Clínic, Villaroel, 170, 08036 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. fcervera@clinic.ub.es
authors.forename: Ricard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cervera
authors.forename: Ronald A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Asherson
mesh_terms: D017153:Antibodies, Anticardiolipin / Q000276:immunology*; D016736:Antiphospholipid Syndrome / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D016682:Lupus Coagulation Inhibitor / Q000276:immunology*; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D017153:Antibodies, Anticardiolipin; D016682:Lupus Coagulation Inhibitor