Involvement of functional autoantibodies against vascular receptors in systemic sclerosis

• Published in: Annals of the rheumatic diseases Vol. 70; no. 3; pp. 530 - 536
• Main Authors: Riemekasten, Gabriela, Philippe, Aurélie, Näther, Melanie, Slowinski, Torsten, Müller, Dominik N, Heidecke, Harald, Matucci-Cerinic, Marco, Czirják, László, Lukitsch, Ivo, Becker, Mike, Kill, Angela, van Laar, Jacob M, Catar, Rusan, Luft, Friedrich C, Burmester, Gerd R, Hegner, Björn, Dragun, Duska
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and European League Against Rheumatism 01.03.2011; BMJ Publishing Group; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Antibody Specificity; Autoantibodies - blood; Autoantibodies - immunology; Biological and medical sciences; Biomarkers - blood; Diseases of the osteoarticular system; Endothelium, Vascular - immunology; Epidemiologic Methods; Experiments; Female; Gene expression; Humans; Immunoglobulins; Immunology; Kinases; Male; Medical sciences; Microcirculation - immunology; Middle Aged; Mortality; Patients; Prognosis; Proteins; Raynaud disease; Receptor, Angiotensin, Type 1 - immunology; Receptor, Endothelin A - immunology; Rheumatology; Sarcoidosis. Granulomatous diseases of unproved etiology. Connective tissue diseases. Elastic tissue diseases. Vasculitis; Scleroderma; Scleroderma, Systemic - immunology; Studies; Thyroid gland; Young Adult; Autoimmunity; Immunopathology; Connective tissue disease; Skin disease; Blood vessel; Systemic disease; Rheumatology; Autoantibody; Autoimmune disease; Scleroderma

Background Systemic sclerosis (SSc) features autoimmunity, vasculopathy and tissue fibrosis. The renin-angiotensin and endothelin systems have been implicated in vasculopathy and fibrosis. A role for autoantibody-mediated receptor stimulation is hypothesised, linking three major pathophysiological f...