NATURAL AUTOANTIBODIES IN SERA OF PATIENTS WITH GAUCHERS-DISEASE

Gaucher's disease (GD) is associated with hyperactivity of the immune system, which manifests by polyclonal hypergammaglobulinemia and an in creased incidence of monoclonal gammopathies in GD patients. We analyz ed sera of 43 patients with GD for the presence of autoantibodies agai nst 14 autoantigens. The results demonstrated a significant increase i n the incidence of all autoantibodies tested, ranging from 11% for ant i-RNP, pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH), and DNA antibodies to 57% for rhe umatoid factor. The autoantibodies were of all three isotypes, namely, IgG, IgM, and IgA. There was no correlation between the levels of imm unoglobulins in the serum and the titer of autoantibodies found. Immun ization of naive mice with a pool of purified anti-DNA antibodies form GD patients did not result in induction of experimental systemic lupu s erythematosus (SLE), suggesting that they may represent natural auto antibodies that are not pathogenic. In conclusion, we found high titer s of natural, polyspecific, nonpathogenic autoantibodies in the sera o f GD patients.