Antiphosphatidylethanolamine antibodies contribute to the diagnosis of antiphospholipid syndrome in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

Objective: To evaluate the correlation between antiphosphatidylethanolamine antibodies (aPE) and some antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL)-related clinical manifestations in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods: Patients with SLE (n=217) were tested for the presence of aPE, anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL), and lupus anticoagulant (LA). The prospective aPL-related clinical manifestations studied were: thrombosis, thrombocytopenia, recurrent fetal losses, heart valvulopathies, hemolytic anemia, livedo reticularis. and pulmonary hypertension. Results: A total of 109 SLE patients (50.23%) were IgG aPE-positive; 17.51% presented aPE as the sole autoantibody and had some clinical features of aPL-related clinical manifestations. IgG aPE were associated to the presence of heart valvulopathies (p = 0.002). A statistical difference was also round when considering high levels of IgG aPE (O.D. > 0.600) in patients with livedo reticularis (p = 0.008). Conclusion: The evaluation of IgG aPE may allow us to detect some more patients with aPL-related clinical manifestations in the SLE population. aPE correlated particularly with valvulopathies and livedo reticularis.