Autoantibody responses of individuals in an oil sands development community

The authors studied autoantibodies in sera from 214 individuals in an oil sands community by indirect immunofluorescence, an addressable laser bead immunoassay, and the Crithidia luciliae assay. They compared results with exposure data that included urinary metabolites, health questionnaires, and overt disease as recorded by visits to a physician or hospitalization. The prevalence of autoantibodies was 13%, compared with 10% in 30 controls from a distant community (p > 0.05). The study group had higher autoantibody titers and some disease-specific autoantibodies, but these were not associated with reported autoimmune diagnoses. There was no evidence of increased autoimmune disease or response in this petroleum development population with low levels of exposure.