01894nas a2200361   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001900055653001700074653004000091653003800131653001100169653001900180653002500199653002900224653002400253653002100277653003500298100001400333700001400347700001500361700001200376700001300388700001900401700001500420700001700435700001600452245007000468300000900538490000700547520096400554022001401518       1994                            d  c1994 Jan10aAutoantibodies10aAutoantigens10aElectrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel10aEnzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay10aHumans10aImmunoblotting10aLeprosy, lepromatous10aLiver Cirrhosis, Biliary10aMitochondria, Liver10aMolecular Weight10aPyruvate Dehydrogenase Complex1 aGilburd B1 aZiporen L1 aZharhary D1 aBlank M1 aZurgil N1 aScheinberg M A1 aGuedes L H1 aGershwin M E1 aShoenfeld Y00aAntimitochondrial (pyruvate dehydrogenase) antibodies in leprosy.  a14-90 v143 a<p>Sera from 69 patients with leprosy but without liver involvement were assayed for the presence of mitochondrial pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH)-specific autoantibodies by enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA), immunoblotting using PDH as an antigen and by enzymatic inhibition test. Twenty-seven of the leprosy serum samples (39.1%) were found to react with PDH by ELISA. However, unlike sera from primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) patients, none of these were able to inhibit the PDH enzymatic activity. By immunoblotting, it was found that only 2 of the 27 positive sera recognized the 74-kD protein of the PDH complex, which is recognized by sera of most PBC patients. The antimitochondrial antibodies in lepra most probably recognize different epitopes than those in PBC. These findings may indicate that anti-PDH autoantibodies in patients with leprosy may arise by polyclonal B cell stimulation and may represent natural anti-PDH autoantibodies.</p>  a0271-9142