title: Mycobacterium tuberculosis lipoarabinomannan antibodies are associated to rheumatoid arthritis in Sardinian patients.
abstract: Little is known regarding the environmental factors at play in igniting rheumatoid arthritis (RA) autoimmunity, although an association between Mycobacteria and RA has been documented. This pilot study focused on examining a possible involvement of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) and Mycobacterium avium ss. paratuberculosis (MAP) in RA. We measured out the serum levels of IgG antibody against different mycobacterial antigens in Sardinian patients and controls, by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The population study was composed of 61 RA patients under different therapies and 52 healthy controls, whereas the antigens tested were MTB lipoarabinomannan (ManLAM), MAP heath shock protein 70, and MAP protein tyrosine phosphatase. The frequencies of anti-ManLAM antibodies were higher in the RA group (23 %) compared to the healthy controls (5.7 %) (AUC = 0.7; p < 0.0001), whereas serum reactivity to MAP antigens was not observed. ManLAM antigen was also detected in the plasma of three RA patients (which were anti-ManLAM antibody positive) by Western blot analysis using anti-Man-LAM monoclonal antibodies. The data produced corroborate the hypothesis of a potential association between MTB ManLAM and RA disease, but so far, further studies are necessary to understand its role in RA pathogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, Università di Sassari, Sassari, Italy.
authors.forename: G L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Erre
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cossu
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Masala
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mameli
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Cadoni
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Serdino
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Longu
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Passiu
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Sechi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology*; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000276:immunology; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000150:complications / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000276:immunology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D018840:HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007558:Italy; D055985:Latent Tuberculosis / Q000150:complications / Q000382:microbiology; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016927:Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis; D010865:Pilot Projects; D017027:Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D018840:HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; C050016:lipoarabinomannan; D017027:Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases