Anti-cardiolipin and anti-beta(2) glycoprotein I antibodies in Indian patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: association with the presence of seizures

The aim of this study was to examine whether the clinical features of antip hospholipid antibody syndrome are associated with anti-cardiolipin and anti -beta(2) glycoprotein I antibodies in Indian patients with SLE. Seventy-six patients (71 females), who fulfilled 1982 ACR criteria for SLE, were prosp ectively studied for the clinical features of antiphospholipid antibody syn drome (APS), and their sera were analysed for the presence of IgG/IgM/IgA a nti-cardiolipin antibodies (aCL) by an in-house ELISA and, in 65 of them, f or the presence of IgG anti-beta2 glycoprotein I antibodies (anti-beta(2) G PI) by a commercial kit. Thirty-nine (51%) patients were positive for aCL, all of which were positive for IgG aCL, either alone (79.6%) or along with IgM and/or IgA. Twenty-seven (69.3%) out of 39 aCL-positive and seven (26.9 %) out of 26 aCL-negative sera were positive for IgG antibodies to beta(2) GPI. There was a significant correlation (r = 0.66, P < 0.05) between the l evels of aCL and anti-beta(2) GPI antibodies. Forty-one patients had featur es of definite or suggestive APS. Thrombocytopenia, recurrent pregnancy los s and CNS manifestations (seizures eight, infarct one) were seen in 20, 13 and nine patients, respectively. Thrombosis of the peripheral vessels was s een in only one patient. Only the presence of seizures was significantly as sociated with the presence of aCL and anti-beta(2) GPI antibodies (P < 0.05 ). The characteristic association of definite APS (recurrent pregnancy loss and arterial/venous thrombosis) was lacking.