Profile ofautoantibodies intheserumofpatients with tuberculosis, klebsiella andother Gram-negative infections

SUMMARY Autoantibody profiles wereexamined inthesera ofuntreated patients withtuberculosis, andthose withklebsiella septicaemia, andklebsiella andE.coli urinary tract infections. Rheumatoid factors oftheIgM,IgAandIgGisotypes, antinuclear antibodies and antibodies topoly(ADP-ribose) wereallfrequently detected (generally 15-40%). In contrast, antibodies totheextractable nuclear antigens andtotheorgan specific antigens wereunusual (generally <10%).Incomparison, inagroupoflupus patients IgM rheumatoid factor, anti-nuclear antibodies, antibodies topoly(ADP-ribose) andantibodies totheextractable nuclear antigens weremorefrequently found, butIgAandIgG rheumatoid factors andantibodies totheorgan-specific antigens werepresent inmuchthe samefrequency.