title: A novel autoantibody in patients with primary hypertension: antibody against L-type Ca2+ channel.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recently, it has been proposed that the autoantibodies against various cardiovascular receptors play a role in the pathogenesis of primary hypertension. In this study, we aimed to identify whether or not there are autoantibodies against cardiovascular L-type Ca2+ channels in patients with primary hypertension.
  
  
  METHODS
  A peptide corresponding to the sequence 2-16 of the alpha1c-subunit of L-type Ca2+ channel was used as an antigen to screen the autoantibodies from 90 patients with primary hypertension and 45 healthy controls by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The clinical data of 90 hypertensive patients were compared between patients with and without these autoantibodies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Serum from 3 (6.7%) of the 45 healthy controls, 33 (36.7%) of 90 hypertensives showed positive responses in ELISA (P < 0.01). The prevalence of such autoantibodies in two subgroups of hypertensives with coronary heart disease (9/21, 57.14%, P < 0.05) and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (28/63, 44.4%, P < 0.05) was higher than in those without the corresponding complications. And the patients with such autoantibodies had lower E/A than patients without such autoantibodies (0.803 +/- 0.191 vs. 1.004 +/- 0.322, P = 0.002).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There are autoantibodies against vascular L-type Ca2+ channels in patients with primary hypertension.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cardiology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430022, China.
authors.forename: Zi-hua
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: Zhi-jian
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Yu-hua
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Liao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D020746:Calcium Channels, L-Type / Q000276:immunology*; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D020746:Calcium Channels, L-Type