PRESENCE OF AUTOANTIBODIES AGAINST SMALL NUCLEAR RIBONUCLEOPROTEIN EPITOPES IN CHAGAS PATIENTS SERA

We investigated the possibility that Chagas' patients develop an autoi mmune response to human UsnRNPs (small nuclear ribonucleoprotein) or S m epitopes. Using purified human UsnRNPs, we detected anti-human UsnRN Ps antibodies in sera from patients suffering from Chagas' disease. Th e antibodies it-ere also detected using peptide enzyme-linked immunoso rbent assays containing the Sm-motif 1 domain. The latter technique sh owed that 61% (31/51) of the Chagas' patients' sera contained antibodi es against Sm-motif I. The detection of anti-UsnRNPs autoantibodies in Chagas patients' sera strongly encourages further studies using anima l models to determine how these autoantibodies appear.