Autoantibodies to human recombinant erythropoietin in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: correlation with anemia
Abstract
To investigate the existence of circulating autoantibodies to erythropoietin (EPO) in sera from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and to correlate their presence with anemia and clinical activity. Ninety-two consecutive patients with SLE, 80 patients with rheumatoid arthritis, and 42 normal individuals were studied. The patients with SLE were categorized into 3 groups according to hemoglobin (Hgb) level: group A (45 patients with Hgb > 12 gm/dl), group B (26 patients with Hgb 10.1-12 gm/dl), and group C (21 patients with Hgb < or = 10 gm/dl). In all patients with SLE, the disease activity was evaluated using the European Consensus Lupus Activity Measurement scale. Antibodies to EPO were detected using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and purified recombinant human EPO as antigen. The specificity of the method was evaluated with homologous and cross-reactive inhibition assays. Antibodies to EPO were found in 15.2% of the SLE patient sera. The distribution of these antibodies among the 3 groups of SLE patients was as follows: 8.8% (4 of 45) from group A, 15.4% (4 of 26) from group B, and 28.6% (6 of 21) from group C. The prevalence of antibodies to EPO in patients with severe anemia (group C) was statistically...Continue Reading
References
Citations
Related Concepts
Related Feeds
Anemia
Anemia develops when your blood lacks enough healthy red blood cells. Anemia of inflammation (AI, also called anemia of chronic disease) is a common, typically normocytic, normochromic anemia that is caused by an underlying inflammatory disease. Here is the latest research on anemia.