[Prevalence of autoantibodies in serum of healthy persons over 85 years of age].

Aging is believed to be associated with the increase in the frequency of autoantibodies. However, as the recent studies suggest the immunological defects are not the consequence of the aging process but they could be a result of underlying diseases. We investigated the prevalence of the anti-nuclear (ANA), anti-mitochondrial (AMA), anti-smooth muscle (SMA), antibodies to gastric parietal cells (PCA) and thyroid anti-microsomal autoantibodies (anti-Tg) in the sera of the selected healthy elderly over 85 years of age. We discovered ANA in 10% of subjects, AMA-5% and PCA in 15% in the group that we examined. Anti-smooth muscle and thyroid anti-microsomal antibodies have not been observed. Autoantibodies were less frequent than in other studies, but our results have shown slight increase of some autoantibodies in the healthy elderly.