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Automimmune response more common in people with severe coronary heart disease
January 15, 2002The development of severe coronary artery disease may be part of a systemic autoimmune response, suggests research in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
Autoimmunity occurs when the body's immune system produces antibodies, which attack its own tissues, and is thought to be the cause of certain diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis.
Researchers took blood samples from 40 people aged between 53 and 76 whose three main coronary arteries were at least 50 per cent blocked. They compared these with blood samples from 30 people aged between 48 and 74 whose arteries were normal. None of the people tested, nor their first degree relatives, had been diagnosed with autoimmune disease.
The samples showed that over 70 per cent of people with severe coronary artery disease had high levels of antinuclear antibodies, a sign of a strong autoimmune response, compared with just 17 per cent of people with no evidence of heart disease. Most of the antibodies were directed against a particular type of antigen.
In effect, people with severe heart disease were more than 11 times as likely to have these antibodies, and the findings were irrespective of age or gender. And the presence of antinuclear antibodies was not associated with a previous heart attack.
The authors say that antinuclear antibodies may occur as a result of the inflammation now widely recognised to be associated with the development of atherosclerosis, or they may precipitate its development. And they conclude that if the findings can be repeated in larger groups of people, testing for antinuclear antibodies may become a useful non-invasive method of diagnosing coronary artery disease.
British Medical Journal (BMJ)
The samples showed that over 70 per cent of people with severe coronary artery disease had high levels of antinuclear antibodies, a sign of a strong autoimmune response, compared with just 17 per cent of people with no evidence of heart disease. Most of the antibodies were directed against a particular type of antigen.
In effect, people with severe heart disease were more than 11 times as likely to have these antibodies, and the findings were irrespective of age or gender. And the presence of antinuclear antibodies was not associated with a previous heart attack.
The authors say that antinuclear antibodies may occur as a result of the inflammation now widely recognised to be associated with the development of atherosclerosis, or they may precipitate its development. And they conclude that if the findings can be repeated in larger groups of people, testing for antinuclear antibodies may become a useful non-invasive method of diagnosing coronary artery disease.
British Medical Journal (BMJ)
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