Anticardiolipin and anti‐beta 2‐glycoprotein I antibodies in patients with unexplained articular manifestations

Abstract

To determine the frequency of antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) in patients with unexplained articular manifestations. Three hundred thirteen patients suffering from arthritis or arthralgia without evident cause and 266 healthy blood donors (HBD) were included in the study. Anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL) and anti-beta 2-glycoprotein I antibodies (aβ2GPI) were measured by ELISA. Out of the 313 patients, 250 were females and 63 were males. The mean age of patients was 49 ± 14 years (17-87 years). One hundred eleven patients have arthralgia and 202 have arthritis. The frequency of aCL and/or aβ2 GPI (24.9%) was significantly higher in patients than in HBD (10.9%). The frequency of aβ2GPI was 23.6% in patients and 9.4% in the control group (p < 10-3 ). aβ2GPI-IgA was significantly more frequent in patients than in the control group (20.4% vs. 7.5%, p < 10-3 ). aβ2GPI was most commonly observed than aCL in patients (23.6% vs. 6.4%, p < 10-6 ). IgA isotype of aβ2GPI was the most frequent in 20.4% of patients while IgG and IgM were detected in 5.4% and 2.9% respectively. This study showed that aPL were common in patients with articular manifestations and were mainly directed against β2 GPI. The role of these antibodies remains to be specified.