Anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae (ASCA) and anti-endomysial antibodies in spondyloarthritis

Spondyloarthritis (SpA) are diseases with increased gut inflammation. To search for (anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae) ASCA IgA, ASCA IgG, and anti-endomysial antibodies (EmA-IgA) in a cohort of 70 patients with SpA, we found 18.6% (13/70) positive for IgA-ASCA in the SpA group and 3/57 (5.2%) in the control group (P = 0.031). ASCA IgG and EmA-IgA were found at the same frequency in SpA and controls. No relationship of ASCA IgA positivity could be established with disease activity (measured by ESR, C-reactive protein, and BASDAI), presence of uveitis, or peripheral arthritis neither with functional status measured by BASFI. SpA patients present an increase in the IgA-ASCA positivity without any relationship to disease activity, functional index, clinical profile or the presence of HLA-B27. There is no evidence of higher prevalence of EmA-IgA in SpA patients in the studied sample.