Extended report
Increased serum concentrations of soluble HLA-class I antigens in
hepatitis C virus related mixed cryoglobulinaemia
Sergio Migliaresia, Alessandro Bresciania b, Lucia Ambrosonea, Marcantonio Speraa b, Deborah Barbarulob, Vincenza Lombarib, Giuseppe Pirozzib, Guglielmo Borgiac, Maria Luisa Lombardib, Giuseppe Tirria, Ciro Manzob
a Istituto
di Clinica Medica, Reumatologia, Seconda Università degli Studi,
Napoli, Italy, b Servizio di Oncologia Sperimentale C,
Immunologia, Istituto Tumori Fondazione Pascale, Napoli, Italy, c Istituto di Malattie Infettive, Università
degli Studi "Federico II", Napoli, Italy
Correspondence to: Dr S Migliaresi, Istituto di Clinica Medica, Reumatologia, Seconda Università, Policlinico via Pansini 5, 80131 Napoli, Italy
Accepted for publication 13 August 1999
OBJECTIVE
To
investigate whether quantitative alterations of both
2microglobulin (2µ) associated HLA
class I heavy chains (sHLA-I) and 2 µ free class I
heavy chains (sHLA-FHC) in sera of patients with hepatitis C virus
(HCV) infection occur and whether they distinguish patients with mixed
cryoglobulinaemia (MC).
METHODS83 HCV
infected patients were studied and divided into three groups: (A)
without cryoglobulinaemia (n=21), (B) with polyclonal MC (n=20), (C)
with monoclonal MC (n=42). Serum sHLA-I and sHLA-FHC were measured by
double determinant radioimmunoassay using monoclonal antibodies:
TP25.99 as catching antibody, and NAMB-1 and HC-10 as revealing
antibodies. Western blot identified HLA-I isoforms.
RESULTSThe serum
concentrations of sHLA-I and of sHLA-FHC in HCV infected patients
versus controls were respectively 1.3(0.5) µg/ml (mean (SD)) versus
0.8 (0.3) (p<0.001) and 13.9 (7.1) ng/ml versus 9.2 (5) (p<0.001).
sHLA-I were 1.01 (0.4) µg/ml in group A, 1.04 (0.4) µg/ml in group
B, and 1.47 (0.4) µg/ml in group C (p=0.001). Statistical analysis
showed a significant difference versus controls for groups B (p<0.02)
and C (p<0.001). sHLA-FHC were 12.8 (8.3) ng/ml in group A, 17.2 (7.1)
ng/ml in group B, and 12.9 (6.2) ng/ml in group C (p<0.02). A
significant difference versus controls for each group was found
(p<0.02, p<0.001, and p<0.02, respectively). Different patterns of
sHLA-I isoforms were observed.
CONCLUSIONSIncreased
serum concentrations of sHLA-I and sHLA-FHC characterise HCV infected
patients. The highest sHLA-I concentrations seem to distinguish
patients with monoclonal MC. In this last condition sHLA could play a
part in the HCV escape and in B cell proliferation. The significance of
sHLA-FHC is still undefined.
© 2000 by Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
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