Pediatric Rheumatology Online Journal → August 2003 → Rheumatic Fever → Abstract #154
EXPRESSION OF THE D8/17 B LYMPHOCYTE ANTIGEN IN RHEUMATIC FEVER PATIENTS
M. O. Hilario,1 S. Silva,2 M. T. Terreri,1 H. Ferraz.2
1Pediatric Rheumatology Unit - Department of Pediatrics, Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo - EPM, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil; 2Movement Disorders Section - Department of Neurology, Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo - EPM, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil
OBJECTIVE: To study the expression of the D8/17 B lymphocyte antigen in Rheumatic Fever patients.
PATIENTS AND METHODS: Thirty-four patients (20 females and 16 caucasoids) fulfilling the modified Jones criteria for Rheumatic Fever were included in the study. The mean age was 12.7 years (range 7 years to 18 years). The control group comprized thirty-seven disease-free individuals (24 females and 25 caucasoids) drawn from the same ethnic population. D8/17 antigen was determined in all patients and controls by flow citometry technique. In 9 Rheumatic Fever patients and 3 controls the reactivity of the antibody D8/17 was confirmed by the immunoperoxidase technique. In both techniques mice IgM antibody batches supplied by the laboratory of Immunology and Microbiology of the Rockefeller University were used. The positive threshold level for B lymphocytes was fixed at
RESULTS: The frequency of the positive results for the D8/17 antigen by flow citometry test in patients and controls was 29.4% (10/34) and 29.7% (11/37) respectively. Using the immunoperoxidase technique, no fixation of the antibody in any of the evaluated individuals was found. Therefore, there was no meaningful difference in D8/17 antigen positivity in Rheumatic Fever patients and normal controls.
CONCLUSION: According to our results the D8/17 did not prove to be a marker of Rheumatic Fever susceptibility in our environment. The differences found in relation to other publications can ensue from ethnical and racial differences and could perhaps be minimized by analysis with monoclonal antibodies produced with the blood of local Rheumatic Fever patients.
Financial support: FAPESP