The nature of antiphospholipid antibodies.

Despite the striking clinical manifestations associated with antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) the role of these autoantibodies in disease and the nature of their true "inducing" and "target" antigens remain elusive. To address these issues, we investigated the immunogenic potential of phospholipid structures. To date, phospholipid immunogens have included hexagonal (II) forms of phosphatidylethanolamine and mixtures of apolipoprotein H (beta 2-glycoprotein I) with cardiolipin. Both hexagonal (II) phosphatidylethanolamine and the cardiolipin/apolipoprotein H mixture were capable of inducing aPL with lupus anticoagulant activity. Bilayer phosphatidylethanolamine and cardiolipin in the absence of apolipoprotein H were nonimmunogenic. Our data support our views that specific phospholipid structures are recognized by the immune system and that such structures serve as inducing and/or target antigens in the pathogenesis of aPL in vivo.