title: Demographic associations for autoantibodies in disease-free individuals of a European population.
abstract: The presence of autoantibodies usually precedes autoimmune disease, but is sometimes considered an incidental finding with no clinical relevance. The prevalence of immune-mediated diseases was studied in a group of individuals from the Estonian Genome Project (n = 51,862), and 6 clinically significant autoantibodies were detected in a subgroup of 994 (auto)immune-mediated disease-free individuals. The overall prevalence of individuals with immune-mediated diseases in the primary cohort was 30.1%. Similarly, 23.6% of the participants in the disease-free subgroup were seropositive for at least one autoantibody. Several phenotypic parameters were associated with autoantibodies. The results suggest that (i) immune-mediated diseases are diagnosed in nearly one-third of a random European population, (ii) 6 common autoantibodies are detectable in almost one-third of individuals without diagnosed autoimmune diseases, (iii) tissue non-specific autoantibodies, especially at high levels, may reflect preclinical disease in symptom-free individuals, and (iv) the incidental positivity of anti-TPO in men with positive familial anamnesis of maternal autoimmune disease deserves further medical attention. These results encourage physicians to evaluate autoantibodies in addition to treating a variety of patient health complaints to detect autoimmune-mediated disease early.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bio- and Translational Medicine, Department of Immunology, University of Tartu, Ravila 19, Tartu 50411, Estonia.|Competence Center on Health Technologies, Tiigi 61b, Tartu 50410, Estonia.|Institute of Clinical Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Tartu, L. Puusepa 8, Tartu 51014, Estonia.
authors.forename: Kadri
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Haller-Kikkatalo
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bio- and Translational Medicine, Department of Immunology, University of Tartu, Ravila 19, Tartu 50411, Estonia.
authors.forename: Kristi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Alnek
authors.affiliation: Estonian Genome Center, University of Tartu, Riia 23b, Tartu 51010, Estonia.|Institute of Molecular and Cell biology, University of Tartu, Riia 23, Tartu 51010, Estonia.
authors.forename: Andres
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Metspalu
authors.affiliation: Estonian Genome Center, University of Tartu, Riia 23b, Tartu 51010, Estonia.
authors.forename: Evelin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mihailov
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bio- and Translational Medicine, Department of Immunology, University of Tartu, Ravila 19, Tartu 50411, Estonia.
authors.forename: Kaja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Metsküla
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bio- and Translational Medicine, Department of Immunology, University of Tartu, Ravila 19, Tartu 50411, Estonia.
authors.forename: Kalle
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kisand
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, University of Tartu, Ravila 19, Tartu 50411, Estonia.
authors.forename: Heti
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pisarev
authors.affiliation: Competence Center on Health Technologies, Tiigi 61b, Tartu 50410, Estonia.|Institute of Clinical Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Tartu, L. Puusepa 8, Tartu 51014, Estonia.|Institute of Bio- and Translational Medicine, Department of Biomedicine, University of Tartu, Ravila 19, Tartu 50411, Estonia.|Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, FI-00029 HUS, Finland.
authors.forename: Andres
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Salumets
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bio- and Translational Medicine, Department of Immunology, University of Tartu, Ravila 19, Tartu 50411, Estonia.|Competence Center on Health Technologies, Tiigi 61b, Tartu 50410, Estonia.
authors.forename: Raivo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Uibo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D058070:Asymptomatic Diseases; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000276:immunology*; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010641:Phenotype; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies