title: Oversecretion of soluble CTLA-4 in various autoimmune diseases overlapping celiac disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the levels of soluble CTLA-4 (sCTLA-4) in sera of celiac disease (CD) patients with overlapping autoimmune diseases (OAD; diabetes mellitus, autoimmune thyroid diseases, inflammatory bowel diseases, and autoimmune polyendocrine syndromes).
  
  
  METHODS
  Sera from Italian patients with CD were obtained and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to measure sCTLA-4.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Consistently high serum sCTLA-4 levels were observed in CD (13.20 ng/mL, p<0.0001) and OAD (19.48 ng/mL, p<0.0001) compared to normal controls. A significant increase in the level of serum sCTLA-4 was observed in OAD (p=0.0273) compared to CD alone. At variance, no significant difference in the sCTLA-4 levels was observed when single OAD were compared.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study shows for the first time a statistically significant increase of serum sCTLA-4 levels in CD patients with associated autoimmune disease (namely, CD and OAD) versus patients with CD alone. Previously, the potential genetic associations of several CTLA-4 polymorphisms to susceptibility to autoimmune diseases have been described, although the relationship between CTLA-4 polymorphisms and the ability to produce the soluble form is not fully clarified. CTLA-4 is a strong actor in the adaptive response: our data give supportive evidence of the common background of autoimmune diseases.
authors.affiliation: 1 Autoimmunity Unit, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Genova , Genova, Italy .
authors.forename: Giampaola
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pesce
authors.forename: Renata
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Auricchio
authors.forename: Marcello
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bagnasco
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Saverino
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000097:blood*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D060908:CTLA-4 Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D002446:Celiac Disease / Q000097:blood*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D060908:CTLA-4 Antigen; C556706:CTLA4 protein, human