Relationship of anti-Lewis x and anti-Lewis y antibodies in serum samples from gastric cancer and chronic gastritis patients to Helicobacter pylori-mediated autoimmunity

• Published in: Infection and immunity 2001-08, Vol.69 (8), p.4774-4781
• Main Authors: HENEGHAN, Michael A, MCCARTHY, Ciaran F, JANULAITYTE, Daiva, MORAN, Anthony P
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Autoantibodies - blood; Autoantibodies - immunology; Autoantigens - immunology; Autoimmunity - immunology; Bacterial diseases; Bacterial diseases of the digestive system and abdomen; Bacteriology; Biological and medical sciences; Chronic Disease; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gastritis, Atrophic - blood; Gastritis, Atrophic - immunology; Gastritis, Atrophic - pathology; Helicobacter Infections - blood; Helicobacter Infections - immunology; Helicobacter Infections - pathology; Helicobacter pylori; Helicobacter pylori - immunology; Host Response and Inflammation; Human bacterial diseases; Humans; Immunophenotyping; Infectious diseases; Lewis Blood-Group System - immunology; Lewis x antigen; Lewis X Antigen - immunology; Lewis y antigen; Male; Medical sciences; Microbiology; Middle Aged; Pathogenicity, virulence, toxins, bacteriocins, pyrogens, host-bacteria relations, miscellaneous strains; Stomach Neoplasms - blood; Stomach Neoplasms - immunology; Stomach Neoplasms - pathology
• ISSN: 0019-9567; 1098-5522
• DOI: 10.1128/IAI.69.8.4774-4781.2001

Lewis (Le) antigens have been implicated in the pathogenesis of atrophic gastritis and gastric cancer in the setting of Helicobacter pylori infection, and H. pylori-induced anti-Le antibodies have been described that cross-react with the gastric mucosa of both mice and humans. The aim of this study was to examine the presence of anti-Le antibodies in patients with H. pylori infection and gastric cancer and to examine the relationships between anti-Le antibody production, bacterial Le expression, gastric histopathology, and host Le erythrocyte phenotype. Anti-Le antibody production and H. pylori Le expression were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, erythrocyte Le phenotype was examined by agglutination assays, and histology was scored blindly. Significant levels of anti-Le(x) antibody (P < 0.0001, T = 76.4, DF = 5) and anti-Le(y) antibody (P < 0.0001, T = 73.05, DF = 5) were found in the sera of patients with gastric cancer and other H. pylori-associated pathology compared with H. pylori-negative controls. Following incubation of patient sera with synthetic Le glycoconjugates, anti-Le(x) and -Le(y) autoantibody binding was abolished. The degree of the anti-Le(x) and -Le(y) antibody response was unrelated to the host Le phenotype but was significantly associated with the bacterial expression of Le(x) (r = 0.863, r(2) = 0.745, P < 0.0001) and Le(y) (r = 0.796, r(2) = 0.634, P < 0.0001), respectively. Collectively, these data suggest that anti-Le antibodies are present in most patients with H. pylori infection, including those with gastric cancer, that variability exists in the strength of the anti-Le response, and that this response is independent of the host Le phenotype but related to the bacterial Le phenotype.