[Autoimmune processes during the protracted course of human yersiniosis]

Altogether 187 blood sera from 87 patients with acute yersiniosis, 149 from 50 patients with a lingering course of yersiniosis, and 40 sera from healthy persons were investigated for the presence of antibodies to cells of interstitial myocardial tissue, fibroblasts of human embryonic articular fibrous tissue, nuclei and fibroblasts of human skin in pure culture by indirect immunofluorescence. Antibodies to the above structures were more frequently found in the blood sera of the patients with a lingering course of yersiniosis (p less than 0.001). In most cases antibodies belonged to IgG or IgG and IgM. Periods of exacerbation of an inflammatory process were combined with increased titers of antibodies to tissue components suggesting the pathogenetic importance of antibodies in the formation of a lingering course of yersiniosis.