Immunoglobulin A and C reactive protein levels in ankylosing spondylitis
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Abstract
Correspondence: SIR, We read with interest the recent paper by Sanders et al
on the correlation of immunoglobulin and C reactive
protein (CRP) levels in 22 patients with ankylosing
spondylitis (AS) and 20 patients with rheumatoid arthritis
(RA).' The authors found that IgA serum levels, though
raised in AS, do not correlate with CRP levels as they do in
RA, suggesting that the mechanism of increase of IgA in
the two diseases may be different. They conclude that
production of IgA in AS is unrelated to the stimulation of
acute phase reactants, reflecting a specific mucosal immune
stimulation, possibly in the gut. Thus IgA may be a marker
of the pathogenesis of AS