Antiendothelial cell antibodies and systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity

Anti-endothelial cells antibodies (AECA) have been detected in 44 SLE patients and 30 blood healthy donors by cellular ELISA (HUVEC). The prevalence for IgA-AECA, IgM-AECA and IgG-AECA were respectively 18.1%, 2.3% and 56.8%. The prevalence for all isotypes was 63.6%. The AECA Binding Index was significantly increased for IgA and IgG isotypes (p<0.005 and p<0.001, respectively). In addition, a significant association between IgG-AECA and the SLE Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) has been shown (n=40, r=0.439, p<0.01). These results confirm the high prevalence of IgG-AECA in this disease and the significant association between disease activity and IgG-AECA suggests that AECA could be relevant marker in the disease follow-up.