Anti-endothelial cell antibodies in Behçet's disease

Area of Science:

• Immunology
• Vascular Biology
• Rheumatology

Background:

• Circulating antibodies binding to human endothelial cells (AECA) are found in various diseases, including Behçet's disease.
• Previous studies report widely varying prevalence of AECA in Behçet's disease.
• Assay variability, due to differing conditions and reagents in ELISA, is a likely cause for inconsistent findings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To re-examine the frequency of AECA in Turkish Behçet's disease patients and healthy controls.
• To compare the impact of different human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) preparation methods on AECA detection.
• To investigate the influence of cell fixation and TNF alpha-stimulation on AECA prevalence.

Main Methods:

• Evaluated AECA frequency in 132 Behçet's patients and 50 healthy controls.
• Utilized fresh, non-treated HUVEC, fixed HUVEC, and TNF alpha-stimulated HUVEC for ELISA assays.
• All procedures were conducted at room temperature.

Main Results:

• Using fresh HUVEC, 13.1% of patients and 4.0% of controls were positive for IgG-AECA; 6.8% of patients and 8.0% of controls were positive for IgM-AECA.
• No statistically significant difference in AECA frequency was observed between Behçet's patients and controls with fresh HUVEC.
• Fixed and TNF alpha-stimulated HUVEC yielded similar results, though the mean for IgG-AECA with stimulated HUVEC reached statistical significance.

Conclusions:

• Discrepancies in reported AECA prevalence likely stem from methodological differences in ELISA assays.
• Interpreting ELISA results for AECA requires careful consideration of assay conditions.
• Further standardization of AECA detection methods is needed for reliable clinical application.