SNEDDONS SYNDROME, ANTICARDIOLIPIN ANTIBODY AND GLOMERULAR THROMBOSIS

Sneddon's syndrome, cerebrovascular thrombosis and livedo reticularis, is often a variant of the ''primary'' anti-phospholipid syndrome (PAP S). We report a woman with PAPS, presenting as Sneddon's syndrome, wit h renal impairment and glomerular thrombosis on renal biopsy. An IgG a nti-cardiolipin antibody (aCL) was identified. The aCL was purified by affinity chromatography, gel filtration chromatography and ion-exchan ge chromatography, assayed in a modified ELISA and found to be of the type that requires the plasma protein beta(2)-GPI to bind aCL. As beta (2)-GPI has anticoagulant properties it is postulated that its interac tion with aCL has a pathogenic role in the thrombotic lesions associat ed with aCL.