PREVALENCE OF CONVENTIONAL ANTIPHOSPHOLIPID ANTIBODIES IN A HEALTHY POPULATION
- Valéry Salle, France
Abstract
Background and Aims
Antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) represent a heterogenous family of autoantibodies, predominantly represented by conventional aPL such as anticardiolipin antibodies (ACL), anti-β2 glycoprotein I antibodies (aβ2GPI) and lupus anticoagulant (LA). aPL are not specific to antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) and can be detected in various clinical settings and in healthy subjects. The prevalence of aPL in the general population is limited.
Methods
Between september 2009 and january 2016, we included healthy subjects in a prospective study. Healthy individuals were recruited at the Amiens branch of the French Blood Agency-North of France and from the general population. Demographic data were collected for all healthy subjects. IgG ACL, IgM ACL, IgG aβ2GPI and IgM aβ2GPI were detected using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The PTT-LA was performed to detect LA.
Results
We included prospectively 1218 healthy individuals (F/H : 1.12). The median age of the healthy population was 42 years (18-83) at the time of inclusion. The prevalence of aPL was 10.5% (ACL : 9% ; aβ2GPI : 2.2% ; LA : 0.5%). In healthy subjects positive for ACL, there is a higher prevalence of IgM (74.5%) isotype than IgG (30%). ACL and/or aβ2GPI at medium or high titers (ACL > 40 U/mL ; aβ2GPI > 10 U/mL) were present in 27.4% of aPL positive healthy subjects.
Conclusions
This prospective study showed that the prevalence of LA in a healthy population is very low. IgM ACL are more frequent than IgG ACL. The majority of healthy subjects positive for aPL had low titers of ACL and/or aβ2GPI