Humoral and Cellular Studies in Diseases With Heart-Reactive Antibodies

Abstract

Antibodies reacting with heart (HRA) have been found in several clinical conditions, including acute rheumatic fever (1), the postpericardiotomy sydrome (2), and postmyocardial infarction (3). Although these antibodies are found most consistently and in highest titers in acute rheumatic fever and postpericardiotomy syndrome and appear to correlate well with the acute phase of the illness, their actual role in the pathogenesis is still unclear. In the following studies, the sera of patients with acute rheumatic fever and the postpericardiotomy syndrome have been examined in order to follow the course of the antibody during the acute phase of these illnesses. Further studies have then been conducted on these antibodies to try to determine more of their possible significance in the pathogenesis of the disease states.

This study was supported in part by an NIH research grant No. 16246-03.