Association between high antistaphylolysin and teichoic acid antibody titres with rheumatic syndromes

To analyse which rheumatic syndromes are associated with serological evidence of recent Staphylococcus aureus infection, we studied retrospectively 44 adult patients, gathered between 1979-1990, having an acute arthritis syndrome or an exacerbation in their chronic rheumatic disease and simultaneously a high antistaphylolysin (ASTA > 4,0) and/or high teichoic acid antibody titre (TAA > 8). Patients with septic arthritis or endoprosthetic infections were not included. 25 patients had arthritis/arthralgia associated with a known rheumatic disease, 9 patients had reactive arthritis and 8 patients had arthralgia. The frequency of HLA-B27 in tested patients was significantly higher in the whole patient group than in the healthy Finnish population (43% v 14%, p < 0.001). It is concluded that high ASTA and/or TAA titres are associated with various acute rheumatic syndromes including reactive arthritis.