Electron Transfer Flavoprotein Subunit Beta Is a Candidate Endothelial Cell Autoantigen in Behçet's Disease

Behçet's disease (BD) is a chronic inflammatory disease with multisystem involvement, and it is listed as a rare disease in the United States but is common in the Middle East, China, and Japan. The aim of this study was to identify novel autoantigens in Chinese patients with BD. First, the candidate autoantigens were screened by Western blotting, and the sequences of putative antigens were identified by LC-MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometry. Next, the screened protein was cloned, expressed and purified. Then, an optimized ELISA was developed, and the serological criteria were evaluated using a large number of confirmed patients. One antigen with a molecular weight of approximately 28 kDa was identified as electron transfer flavoprotein subunit beta (ETFB). Positive reactivity was detected in recombinant human ETFB sera from 38 of 92 BD patients (41 %) and 1 of 90 healthy controls (1 %).