The emerging concept of pathogenic natural autoantibodies

Article type: Research Article

Authors: George, Jacob | Gilburd, Boris | Shoenfeld, Yehuda^{; *}

Affiliations: Department of Medicine ‘B’, and Research Unit of Autoimmune Diseases, Tel-Hashomer and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Sheba Medical Center, Israel

Correspondence: [*] Correspondence and reprint requests to: Yehuda Shoenfeld MD, Department of Medicine ‘B’, Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, 52621 Israel.

Abstract: Natural autoantibodies (NAA) are self-reacting antibodies found in the serum. NAA do not require antigenic or mitogenic stimuli for their synthesis. These low affinity antibodies are found in the sera of normal healthy subjects and animals and are thought to constitute part of the innate immunity by providing a first line of defense against foreign invading pathogens. In this paper we summarize the recently accumulated data which points to the pathogenic potential of NAA, challenging the paradigm of nonharmful antibodies.

Keywords: Natural autoantibodies, SLE, 16/6 idiotype, antiphospholipid syndrome, anticardiolipin antibodies

DOI: 10.3233/HAB-1997-8204

Journal: Human Antibodies, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 70-75, 1997