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MULTICENTRE
STUDIES
ANTIPHOSPHOLIPID ANTIBODIES, INFECTIONS AND
AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES
COORDINATORS
Yaniv Sherer1,
Miri Blank1, Ricard Cervera2, Athanassios G. Tzioufas3,
Andrea A. Doria4, Loďc Guillevin5, Roberto Gerli6,
Marco Metucci Cerinic7, Stefano Bombardieri8, Ingrid
Lundberg9, Angela Tincani10, Anat Achiron11,
Joab Chapman11, Carlo Selmi12, Soren
Jacobsen13, Ljudmila Stojanovich14, Gabriel Valentini15,
Blaz Rozman16, Tania Kveder16 Sonja Praprotnic16
Javier Martin17, Pierre Youinou18, JM Anaya19,
Giselle Godard1, Yehuda Chovers20 & Yehuda Shoenfeld1,21
1 Department of
Medicine B and Center of Autoimmune Diseases, Sheba Medical Center,
Tel-Hashomer, and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Israel
2 Systemic Autoimmune
Disease Unit, Hospital Clinic, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
3 Department of
Pathophysiology, ATHENS, Greece
4 Catedra e Divisione de Reumatologia, University of Padova, Italy
5 Hopital Avicenne, Bobigny Cedex, France
6 Universita Di
Perugia, Italy
7 Department of
Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, University of Florence, Italy
8 Rheumatology Unit, Department of internal medicine,University of
Pisa, Italy
9 Rheumatology Unit,
Inst for Medicine, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
10 Servizio Di Immunologia Clinic, Ospedale Civile Di Brescia, Italy
11 Department of Neurology, Sheba Medical Center,
Tel-Hashomer, Israel
12 Division of Internal Medicine, San Paolo
School of Medicine, University of Milan, Italy
13 Department of
Rheumatology, Hvidovre Hospital, Hvidovre, Denmark
14 Department of
Rheumatology, Clinical and Hospital Center 'Bezanijska Kosa', Belgrade,
Yugoslavia
15 Department of Haematology, IRCCS Ospedale Maggiore, Milan, Italy.
16 University Medical Centre; Department of Rheumatology, Ljubljana;
Slovenia
17 Rheumatology
Division, Hospital Xeral-Calde, Lugo, Granada, Spain.
18 Laboratory of
Immunology, Brest University Medical School, Brest, France
19 Rheumatology Unit,
Universidad del Rosario, Medellin, Colombia.
20 Department of
Surgery, Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, Israel
21 Incumbent of the
Laura Schwarz-Kipp Chair for Research of Autoimmune Diseases
PROJECT
A number of autoimmune diseases may be
associated with some infectious diseases. Antiphospholipid antibodies can also
emerge following various infections and recent data suggest that infectious
agents are implicated in the pathogenesis of the antiphospholipid syndrome [1].
The purpose of this investigation is to assess the prevalence of infectious
diseases seropositivity, the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies and their
relationships in a group of patients having specific autoimmune disease. The
study population includes large cohorts of autoimmune diseases entailing: 200
patients with antiphospholipid syndrome (primary or secondary to lupus), 200
patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjogren’s disease, rheumatoid
arthritis, undifferentiated connective tissue disease, vasculitis,
poly/dermatomyositis, multiple sclerosis, psychosis, primary billiary
cirrhosis, systemic sclerosis, inflammatory bowel diseases, 200 patients with
infectious diseases, and 400 normal subjects as the control group. The
antiphospholipid antibodies measured include IgG and IgM isotypes of
anti-cardiolipin, anti-phosphatidylserine, anti-beta2-glycoprotein-I, and
anti-prothrombin autoantibodies. The anti-infectious agents antibodies
determined include Epstein-Barr virus – IgG, IgM, (B.-VCA, EBV-NA-1, EBV –
EA-D), Syphilis – IgG, IgM, Torch - IgG, IgM (Toxoplasmosis gondii, Rubella,
CMV, HSV-1, HSV-2) and Helicobacter pylori - IgG, IgM and IgA. The parameters
to be analyzed in multivariate analyses will include: disease, clinical
manifestations of the disease, general laboratory parameters of the disease,
serological markers, antibodies to infectious agents, and activity of the
diseases. Correlations would be sought between: all antiphospholipid antibodies
and anti-infectious agents’ antibodies, primary and secondary antiphospholipid
syndrome versus other autoimmune diseases. Special emphasis would be given to
IgM versus IgG- recent infection versus previous exposure to an infectious
agent.
1. Blank M, Krause I, Fridkin M, Keller N, Kopolovic J, Goldberg I, Tobar A, Shoenfeld Y.
Bacterial induction of autoantibodies to beta2-glycoprotein-I accounts for the
infectious etiology of antiphospholipid syndrome. J Clin Invest
2002;109:797-804.
For additional
information and applications, please e-mail: sherery@netvision.net.il
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Last updated: 17 November 2005 |
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