Acta Medica Nagasakiensia
Print ISSN : 0001-6055
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
Utility of Bovine Serum Albumin Antibodies as a Biomarker for Arthritis in Children
Medhat HAROUN
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2007 Volume 52 Issue 3 Pages 79-82

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Abstract

We studied the significance of antibodies to bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a biomarker for juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). Sera from 30 children newly diagnosed with polyarticular JIA and sera from 30 healthy children matched for sex and age were tested for IgA, IgG and IgM by ELISA. BSA was used as a target to characterize changes in levels of interacting immunoglobulins. Initial results obtained before removal of antibodies that interacted with BSA suggested that JIA patients had increased levels of IgA in their sera. The serum IgA level was significantly (p<0.0001) higher in JIA children (mean±standard deviation (SD)=2.07±0.089 mg/mL) than in healthy children (1.69±0.109 mg/mL), while there was no significant difference in the levels of serum IgG and IgM between JIA children and healthy children; mean±SD of IgG serum level was 7.31±0.43 mg/mL and 7.39±0.52 mg/mL in JIA and healthy children (p=0.234), respectively, and IgM serum level was 1.22±0.24 mg/mL and 1.27±0.28 mg/mL in JIA and healthy children (p=0.238), respectively. However, the mean±SD of IgA level in JIA sera after purification from antibodies that interacted with BSA was 1.71±0.096 mg/mL, indicating the responsibility of anti-BSA IgA antibodies for increased IgA level in JIA patients. In conclusion, a humoral immune response against this antigen might serve as a diagnostic tool for detection of high-risk patients. Thus, positive BSA titers assist in discriminating children with JIA from healthy children.

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© 2007 by Nagasaki University School of Medicine
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