Gross, D. M., T. Forsthuber, M. Tary-Lehmann, C. Etling, K. Ito, Z. A. Nagy, J. A. Field, A. C. Steere, and B. T. Huber. 1998. Identification of LFA-1 as a candidate autoantigen in treatment-resistant Lyme arthritis. Science 281:703.

Categories: Autoimmunity, Infectious diseases

Keywords: Adolescent/Adult/Algorithms/Amino Acid Sequence/Animals/Antigen Presentation/Antigens,Surface/immunology/metabolism/Arthritis,Reactive/drug therapy/Autoantigens/Autoimmune Diseases/Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins/Borrelia burgdorferi Group/Child/Cross Reactions/Female/HLA-DR Antigens/genetics/Humans/Immunodominant Epitopes/Lipoproteins/Lyme Disease/Lymphocyte Function-Associated Antigen-1/chemistry/Male/Mice/Mice,Transgenic/Molecular Sequence Data/Research Support,Non-U.S.Gov't/Research Support,U.S.Gov't,P.H.S./Synovial Fluid/T-Lymphocytes,Helper-Inducer

Abstract: Treatment-resistant Lyme arthritis is associated with immune reactivity to outer surface protein A (OspA) of Borrelia burgdorferi, the agent of Lyme disease, and the major histocompatibility complex class II allele DRB1*0401. The immunodominant epitope of OspA for T helper cells was identified. A homology search revealed a peptide from human leukocyte function-associated antigen-1 (hLFA-1) as a candidate autoantigen. Individuals with treatment-resistant Lyme arthritis, but not other forms of arthritis, generated responses to OspA, hLFA-1, and their highly related peptide epitopes. Identification of the initiating bacterial antigen and a cross-reactive autoantigen may provide a model for development of autoimmune disease.