Study of Antibodies to Peptides Shared by HLA-B^* 2705 and Klebsiella Pneumoniae Nitrogenase in Synovial Fluid of Ankylosing Spondylitis

Fourty-four specimens of synovial fluid from patients with AS, RS, RA and OA were studied for antibodies to the peptids from HLA-B^*2705 and Klebsiella pneumoniae which shared a QTDRED hexamer sequence. 40％ of AS patients and 18.2％ of RS patients showed elevated antibody activity compared with controls. Synovial IgA levels were also higher than that of the controls. The result points out that molecular mimicry between Klebsiella Pneumoniae and HLA-B^* 2705 may take an important role in the pathogenesis of ankyiosing spondylitis.