WAidid suggests the article published by The Journal of Rheumatology Factor H Autoantibodies in Patients with Antiphospholipid Syndrome and Thrombosis indicating that in patients with APS and recurrent venous thrombosis, there are increased levels of FH autoantibodies.

SUMMARY:
Plasma protein factor H (FH) is a main soluble inhibitor of the human complement system. The complement system is a central innate defense system that promotes the inflammatory response and contributes to the destruction of pathogens. Aside from its beneficial effects, the complement system is an aggressive, self-amplifying cascade that needs to be tightly regulated by both soluble and membrane-bound inhibitors to prevent damage of host tissues. Therefore, insufficient functional activity of FH, which can be caused by heritable deficiencies or autoantibodies, is associated with pathology. Autoantibodies to complement factor H (FH) are associated with atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome, but can also be detected in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and in patients positive for lupus anticoagulants and thus potentially antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). In this study the authors determined FH autoantibody levels using ELISA in 2 cohorts of patients with primary (PAPS) and secondary APS (SAPS) from Serbia and Italy, and an additional cohort including patients with venous thromboembolism (VTE) from Sweden. Overall, the data indicate that in patients with APS and recurrent venous thrombosis, there are increased levels of FH autoantibodies, a finding associated with poor clinical outcome.

AUTHORS: Anna Foltyn Zadura, Ashfaque A. Memon, Ljudmila Stojanovich, Carlo Perricone, Fabrizio Conti, Guido Valesini, Gordana Bogdanovic, Andreas Hillarp, Yehuda Shoenfeld, Jan Sundquist, Jonatan Leffler, Peter J. Svensson, Leendert A. Trou, Anna M. Blom⇑

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