To investigate fluorophore linked carbohydrate electrophoresis (FCE) as a method of analyzing serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) oligosaccharides in healthy individuals and those with rheumatic disease and compare with lectin binding assays of carbohydrate composition.
IgG was isolated from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (n = 21), ankylosing spondylitis (AS) (n = 20), psoriatic arthritis (PsA) (n = 20), and healthy adults (n = 36). IgG oligosaccharides were released enzymatically, fluorescently labelled using 8 aminonaphthalene-136 trisulfonic acid; and identification of the oligosaccharide bands was by stepwise enzymatic degradation. Comparison of FCE was made with lectin binding analysis in which the lectins Ricinus communis (RCA1) and Bandeiraea simplicifolia (BSII) were used to detect galactose (Gal) and N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc), respectively.
Each disease could be differentiated from healthy adults on the basis of Band 1 asialodigalacto core fucosylated oligosaccharide (gf2) intensity (p = 0.001), but not from each other. Reduced levels of different sugars were associated with specific diseases: reduced gf2 with RA (p < 0.001), PsA (p < 0.001) and AS (p < 0.02), reduced Band 5 disialo-digalacto core fucosylated (a2f) oligosaccharide with AS (p < 0.001), reduced Band 6 disialo-digalacto (a2) oligosaccharide with AS (p < 0.001) and PsA (p = 0.021). All diseases were associated with a significant increase in Band 4 asialo-agalacto core fucosylated oligosaccharide (g0f) (p < 0.001). In RA, FCE band intensities correlated with sugar quantity when identified using lectin binding analysis (p < 0.003). In contrast, there was no correlation between the same bands in healthy individuals.
FCE is an accurate method of analyzing IgG associated oligosaccharides and reveals unique band patterns or sugar prints associated with healthy adults and patients with RA, PsA, and AS, and comparison with lectin binding analysis suggests undetected RA glycoprotein structural differences. FCE has potential in the early diagnosis and differentiation of rheumatic diseases.