Antibodies to human collagen in subjects with selective IgA deficiency

Abstract

Antibodies to native human collagen were detected by passive haemagglutination in the serum of sixteen of thirty-six subjects with selective TgA deficiency (44·4%), compared to 2·5% of control subjects. The sixteen subjects with anti-collagen antibodies inculded four asymptomatic subjects, five with recurrent infections, four with ataxia telangiectasia, and one each with lymphoma, asthma, and rheumatoid arthritis. There was no statistically significant correlation in individual subjects between the presence of anti-collagen antibodies and antibodies to human IgG, IgA, IgM and ruminant proteins.