To determine the prevalence and potential diagnostic relevance of autoantibodies against serotonin, thromboplastin, and ganglioside Gm1 in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FM).
Sera from 203 patients with FM and 64 pain-free control subjects were analyzed with enzyme immunoassays. Clinical and psychometric data of the patients were analyzed for the presence or absence of autoantibodies.
Compared with control subjects patients with FM had a significantly higher prevalence of autoantibodies against serotonin (20% vs 5%; p = 0.003) and thromboplastin (43% vs 9%; p < 0.001), but not against ganglioside Gm1 (15% vs 9%; p = 0.301). Differences in autoantibody prevalence between controls and FM patients were not related to age or sex. No association was found between autoantibody pattern and clinical or psychometric data, e.g., pain, depression, pain related anxiety, and activities of daily living.
There is an elevated prevalence of antibodies against serotonin and thromboplastin in patients with FM. The pathophysiological significance of this finding is unknown. Calculation of positive predictive values of antiserotonin antibodies shows that measurement of these antibodies has no diagnostic relevance.