ANTIBODIES REACTIVE WITH HIV-1 ANTIGENS IN SYSTEMIC LUPUS-ERYTHEMATOSUS

Antibodies reactive with retroviral gag proteins have been detected in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We investigated the immune responses against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) 1 antigen s in the sera of 44 Turkish patients with SLE. Serum samples were test ed by using two different commercial enzyme immunoassay (EIA) kits and by Western blotting. EIA studies revealed positive results in 12 pati ents (27%) for HIV-1 antigens by one of the kits that coated with puri fied viral antigens. Immunoblot analysis showed antibodies mainly to r etroviral gag proteins in 23 patients (52%). The most frequent reactiv ity was against the p18 gag protein (n = 9). Although antibodies react ive particularly with p24 antigen were described in the previous repor ts, antibodies to p24 were found in only two patients. These findings might reflect a serologic diversity in different ethnic groups and als o suggest the involvement of different triggers in the etiopathogenesi s of SLE.