Sequential development of antibodies to specific sm polypeptides in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus: evidence for independent regulation of anti—double-stranded dna and anti-sm antibody production

✍ Scribed by E. J. Ter Borg; G. Horst; E. Hummel; D. Jaarsma; P. C. Limburg; C. G. M. Kallenberg

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1988
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 416 KB
• Volume: 31
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0004-3591
• DOI: 10.1002/art.1780311215

✦ Synopsis

We describe a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus who, after a disease flare, sequentially produced antibodies to specific Sm polypeptides (demonstrated by counterimmunoelectrophoresis, immunoblotting, and RNA immunoprecipitation) concomitantly with the disappearance of anti-double-stranded DNA antibodies. Immunoblotting studies revealed that antibodies to the D polypeptide appeared first, followed by antibodies to BB' and E polypeptides, respectively. Our findings suggest that antibodies to the Sm-specific polypeptides do not occur simultaneously and that the regulation of their production is independent of that of antibodies to double-stranded DNA.

Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) produce autoantibodies that react with various cellular components, such as DNA, RNA, RNAprotein complexes (as with the Sm antigen), and others (1). Antibodies against double-stranded DNA (ds DNA) occur almost exclusively in SLE patients, and their levels are believed to fluctuate in parallel with disease activity (2). In contrast, levels of antibodies