Abstract:

Objective To study the correlation between serum level of antiendothelial cells auto-antibodies (AECA) and anticardiolipin antibodies (ACA) and the roles in the pathogenesis of Behcet's disease (BD). Methods Thirty two BD patients were randomly selected from our outpatients and inpatients. Thirty-three healthy controls were studied in parallel. AECA/ACA were examined by indirect immunoflourescence technique and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) respectively, IgG-AECA and IgM-AECA antibodies were detected, too. Results The positivity rates of AECA, IgG-AECA and IgM-AECA in BD patients were 81.3%, 71.9% and 53.1%, respectively. Increased serum AECA levels were observed in all BD patients compared with those of normal controls. There was some significant positive correlation in the positivity rate of AECA between erythema nodosum, nodular vasculitis and rapid erythrocyte sedimentation rate. The positivity rate of ACA was 53.1%, A significant difference in the positivity rate of ACA compared with those of normal controls. Neither of these two kinds antibodies was significantly correlated with oral ulcers, clinical manifestations of skin and external genital organ, anemia or erythrocyte sedimentation rate. Conclusion The detection of AECA level is useful to identify cutaneous vasculitis and the activity of disease in BD, but the value of ACA in the diagnosis of the condition of BD needs further study.

Key words: Behcet’s syndrome, Immunoglobulins, Antibodies, antiphospholipid