The Use of Enzyme Immunoassay (EIA) and Radiobinding Assay to Investigate the Cross-reactivity of Klebsiella Antigens and HLAB27 in Ankylosing Spondylitis Patients and Healthy Controls

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Abstract
The binding of rabbit anti-Klebsiella antibodies to tissue-typed lymphocytes obtained from 30 ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients and 54 healthy subjects has been measured by an enzyme immunoassay method. HLAB27 positive lymphocytes obtained from either AS patients (t = 3.60; p < 0.001) or healthy subjects (t = 3.77; p < 0.001) were found to bind Klebsiella antibodies to a significantly greater extent than non-B27 lymphocytes obtained from healthy controls. Absorption studies demonstrated that HLAB27 positive lymphocytes absorbed out significantly more anti-Klebsiella antibodies than HLA B27-negative lymphocytes (t = 6.76; p < 0.005). These results are compatible with cross-reactivity or molecular mimicry between HLAB27 and epitopes on some Gram-negative bacteria such as Klebsiella.