Intrapulmonary Autoantibodies to HSP72 Are Associated with Improved Outcomes in IPF

Figure 3

Anti-Hsp72 IgG and IgGAM concentrations are elevated in the BALf of IPF patient nonprogressors compared to progressors. Anti-Hsp72 IgG was measured in the serum and BALf using the in-house optimised anti-Hsp72 IgG ELISA and commercial anti-Hsp72 IgGAM ELISA (IPF , other ILDs , healthy controls ). BALf concentrations of anti-Hsp72 IgG and IgGAM are standardised to BALf total IgG. Between ILD subgroups and healthy controls, no significant difference was seen in the serum anti-Hsp72 IgG ((a) ) or anti-Hsp72 IgGAM ((b) ). No significant difference was seen between IPF progressor and nonprogressor patient serum anti-Hsp72 IgG ((a) ) or serum anti-Hsp72 IgGAM ((b) ) concentrations. Elevated concentrations of BALf anti-Hsp72 IgG ((c) ) and anti-Hsp72 IgGAM ((d) ) were seen in IPF nonprogressors compared to progressors. Statistical analysis was performed using Kruskal-Wallis with Dunn’s posttest and Mann-Whitney tests.

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