Induction of anticardiolipin antibody and/or lupus anticoagulant in rabbits by immunization with lipoteichoic acid, lipopolysaccharide and lipid A

Abstract

It still remains unclear how anti-phospholipid antibody develops in a specific patient group, however, it is possible that certain microorganism(s) may cause anti-cardiolipin antibody (aCL) development since aCL is frequently detected in patients with Treponema pallidum (TP) and/or other infectious diseases. Accordingly, we conducted an investigation to clarify whether or not anticardiolipin antibody (aCL) and/or lupus anticoagulant (LA) can be induced in rabbits by immunization with Gram-positive or -negative microorganism derivatives, such as lipoteichoic acid, lipopolysaccharide and lipid A. We detected the induction of SLE type-aCL (β2GPI-dependent) and LA in some rabbits immunized with lipid A and lipoteichoic acid, thereby suggesting that some microorganisms may contribute to even the production of pathogenic (SLE-type) antiphospholipid antibody.