Merav Lidar, Noga Lipschitz, Pnina Langevitz, Ori Barzilai, Maya Ram, Bat-Sheba Porat-Katz, Christian Pagnoux, Philippe Guilpain, Renato Alberto Sinico, Antonella Radice, Nicola Bizzaro, Jan Damoiseaux, Jan Willem Cohen Tervaert, Javier Martin, Loïc Guillevin, Stefano Bombardieri, Yehuda Shoenfeld
In this study we assess the presence of antibodies against infectious agents as well as for a variety of autoantibodies in an attempt to establish associations between various vasculitides and infections in order to shed light on the etiopathogenesis of these diseases and perhaps implicate a potential cure. Sera from patients with Wegener's granulomatosis (WG), polyarteritis nodosa, microscopic polyangiitis, Churg Strauss, and giant cell arteritis were compared to healthy control sera. Serum samples were assessed, using the Bio-Rad BioPlex 2200, for the presence of Toxoplama gondii, cytomegalovirus (CMV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), Treponema pallidum, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae...
September 2009: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences