Increased levels of antibodies against heat shock proteins in stroke patients.

Zyta Banecka-Majkutewicz; Michał Grabowski; Leszek Kadziński; Aliaksei Papkov; Alicja Węgrzyn; Bogdan Banecki

doi:10.18388/abp.2014_1910

Zyta Banecka-Majkutewicz Department of Neurology, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdańsk, Poland.;
Michał Grabowski Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology of the University of Gdansk and Medical University of Gdansk, Gdańsk, Poland.;
Leszek Kadziński Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology of the University of Gdansk and Medical University of Gdansk, Gdańsk, Poland.;
Aliaksei Papkov Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology of the University of Gdansk and Medical University of Gdansk, Gdańsk, Poland.;
Alicja Węgrzyn Department of Microbiology, University of Szczecin, Szczecin, Poland.;
Bogdan Banecki Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology of the University of Gdansk and Medical University of Gdansk, Gdańsk, Poland.;

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18388/abp.2014_1910

Abstract

Ischemic stroke is the second leading cause of death worldwide. One of the main risk factors of the ischemic stroke is atherosclerosis which is a chronic inflammatory and immune-mediated disease. Bacterial infections generate specific human antibodies against various antigens, including Hsps. It has been demonstrated that Hsps are selectively overexpressed in the atherosclerotic lesions. The amino acid sequence homology between human and bacterial Hsps may lead to an autoimmune response by immunological cross-reaction. Such immune response against Hsps overexpressed in the blood vessels under stressful conditions may contribute to inflammatory processes and subsequent development of atherosclerosis. In this study we determined the antibody levels against bacterial and human Hsp by ELISA in blood plasma obtained from stroke patients. Using ANOVA we analyzed levels of Hsp-antibodies in control and patient groups and correlate them with several stroke risk factors. The group of stroke patients had elevated levels of anti-Hsp antibodies compared to the control group. We also discovered an antibody level increase in patients that previously underwent another stroke. Our data provide evidence that autoimmunity could underlie formation of atherosclerosis plaque leading to stroke.