Assay principles of antiphospholipid antibodies and heterogeneity of the antibodies

The antiphospholipid syndrome(APS) is characterized by predominant clinical features of venous and arterial thrombosis and recurrent pregnancy loss accompanied by antiphospholipid antibodies(aPL) such as anticardiolipin antibodies(aCL) and lupus anticoagulant(LA). In 1990, three individual research groups, including us, first reported that a 50 kD plasma cofactor is required for the binding of aCL to cardiolipin(CL) and now, beta 2-glycoprotein I(beta 2-GPI), which binds to anionic phospholipids(PLs), is widely believed to be the major antigen for aCL. It was also reported that epitopes for such aCL are cryptic and that they appear only when beta 2-GPI interacts with lipid membranes containing anionic PLs, such as CL and phosphatidylserine, or with a polyoxygenated polystyrene surface. In contrast, prothrombin was recently identified as the "true" antigen for LA. In this review paper, we would like to describe on specificity of aPL and also on a possible mechanism on autoantibody-dependent development of atherosclerosis.