[Prospects for using antigenic nanosystems in the diagnosis and treatment of inflammatory rheumatic diseases]

To study whether immobilized antigenic nanosystems (ANS) may be designed on the basis of antigens of varying chemical nature to identify and to remove specific antibodies (Ab) from the blood of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Sixty patients with the diagnosis of SLE verified by the 1997 American College of Rheumatology criteria and 30 apparently healthy individuals were followed up. The levels of Ab to catalase (Cat), xanthine oxidase (XO), and cardiolipin (CL) were measured by enzyme immunoassay, by applying the respective ANS as an antigenic matrix.

There was a significant relationship of the levels of Ab to Cat and XO to the activity of SLE. It was shown that Ab to Cat and XO could affect the functional activity of serum enzymes. The level of Ab to CL in patients with SLE was found to depend on two parameters - the intensity of the disease and the presence of antiphospholipid syndrome; acute cerebral circulatory disorder and thrombocytopenia were observed to have a significant unidirectional impact on the level of Ab to CL. Immobilized CL-based ANSs were effective in eliminating Ab to CL from the whole blood of patients with SLE, without resulting in a significant hemolysis of blood corpuscles and in a reduction of total protein concentrations.

The development and introduction of preventive methods for the early diagnosis of SLE may be extended, by using ANS based on Cat, XO, and CL antigen. The designing and putting into practice novel ANS-based hemosorbents may allow immunosorption to occupy a prominent place in the pathogenetic therapy of inflammatory autoimmune diseases.