H. Sahly et al., COMPARISON OF THE ANTIBODY-RESPONSES TO THE 77 KLEBSIELLA CAPSULAR TYPES IN ANKYLOSING-SPONDYLITIS AND VARIOUS RHEUMATIC DISEASES, Infection and immunity, 62(11), 1994, pp. 4838-4843
The production of antibodies to Klebsiella capsular polysaccharides wa
s measured in sera from either HLA-B27-positive (HLA-B27(+)) or HLA-B2
7-negative (HLA-B27(-)) patients with classical ankylosing spondylitis
(n = 54). These sera were compared with sera from patients with vario
us rheumatic diseases (n = 82) and HLA-B27(+) or HLA-B27(-) healthy in
dividuals (n = 85). All sera were analyzed by means of an enzyme-linke
d immunosorbent assay specific to each of the 77 Klebsiella serotypes.
The sera from HLA-B27(+) patients with ankylosing spondylitis showed
a significantly higher antibody frequency to the capsular types K26, K
36, and K50 than the sera from HLA-B27(-) ankylosing spondylitis patie
nts, patients with psoriatic arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus,
rheumatoid arthritis, or reactive arthritis after Yersinia enterocolit
ica infection, or healthy controls (P < 0.02). The antibodies were of
the immunoglobulin G type. No significant antibody response to the oth
er 74 Klebsiella serotypes, noncapsulated mutants of K26, K36, and K50
, or preparations of Citrobacter, Serratia, Hafnia, or Morganella spp.
or Streptococcus pneumoniae could be detected, The results might sugg
est a specific association between these capsular types and HLA-B27(+)
ankylosing spondylitis and might imply their predominance in this dis
ease.