Relationship of Anti-Lewis x and Anti-Lewis y Antibodies in Serum Samples from Gastric Cancer and Chronic Gastritis Patients to Helicobacter pylori-Mediated Autoimmunity

AUTOR(ES)
FONTE

American Society for Microbiology

RESUMO

Lewis (Le) antigens have been implicated in the pathogenesis of atrophic gastritis and gastric cancer in the setting of Helicobacter pylori infection, and H. pylori-induced anti-Le antibodies have been described that cross-react with the gastric mucosa of both mice and humans. The aim of this study was to examine the presence of anti-Le antibodies in patients with H. pylori infection and gastric cancer and to examine the relationships between anti-Le antibody production, bacterial Le expression, gastric histopathology, and host Le erythrocyte phenotype. Anti-Le antibody production and H. pylori Le expression were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, erythrocyte Le phenotype was examined by agglutination assays, and histology was scored blindly. Significant levels of anti-Lex antibody (P < 0.0001, T = 76.4, DF = 5) and anti-Ley antibody (P < 0.0001, T = 73.05, DF = 5) were found in the sera of patients with gastric cancer and other H. pylori-associated pathology compared with H. pylori-negative controls. Following incubation of patient sera with synthetic Le glycoconjugates, anti-Lex and -Ley autoantibody binding was abolished. The degree of the anti-Lex and -Ley antibody response was unrelated to the host Le phenotype but was significantly associated with the bacterial expression of Lex (r = 0.863, r2 = 0.745, P < 0.0001) and Ley (r = 0.796, r2 = 0.634, P < 0.0001), respectively. Collectively, these data suggest that anti-Le antibodies are present in most patients with H. pylori infection, including those with gastric cancer, that variability exists in the strength of the anti-Le response, and that this response is independent of the host Le phenotype but related to the bacterial Le phenotype.

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