Both environmental and genetic factors are important in the development of antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) in patients with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). Currently, the only available data on predisposing genetic factors have been obtained from epidemiologic studies, without mechanistic evidence. Therefore, we studied the influence of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II alleles on the production of aPL in a mouse model of APS.
Three groups of mice, MHC class II-deficient (MHCII
Immunization with β
Our mechanistic study is the first to show that MHC class II alleles influence not only quantitative aPL production but also the pathogenic capacity of induced aPL.