Proteolytic antibodies in the sera of pregnant women: a case control study

Abstract

"n Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} Background: The induction of catalytic antibodies (abzymes) was first postulated by Pauling in 1948. Various catalytic antibodies have been detected recently in the sera of patients with several autoimmune pathologies such as systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis. In addition, antibodies with DNase and RNase activity have been discovered in the milk and sera of healthy human mothers, which shows the physiologic role of these antibodies. In this study, we examined the proteolytic activity of antibodies in the sera of pregnant women. "n"nMethods: IgG antibody fractions were isolated from the sera of 30 healthy pregnant women in the first trimester of pregnancy and 10 control samples (men and nonpregnant women) by subsequent steps of chromatographic purification on Protein G sepharose and sephacryl S-300. All patients were in their first pregnancy and aged 25-35 years. The conditions for proteolytic activity, such as type of buffer, pH and temperature, were optimized. The proteolytic activity of these antibodies was demonstrated by in-gel assay with gelatin as the substrate. "n"nResults: Antibody treatments at the optimum temperature showed that some samples from pregnant women contain proteolytic abzymes, as demonstrated by in-gel assays. Western blot results confirmed that the proteolytic activity is an intrinsic property of the antibodies. "n"nConclusions: During pregnancy and immediately after delivery women very often experience autoimmune processes similar to those in patients with autoimmune disease. Because of their specific immune status, pregnant women can produce various catalytic antibodies with different enzymatic activity. These proteolytic abzymes might be involved in the direct clearance of antigens from blood.

Keywords

• Abzyme, pregnancy, catalytic antibody