Catalytic antibodies in clinical and experimental pathology: human and mouse models.

Most of the data accumulated through studies on natural catalytic autoantibodies indicate that production scales up markedly in pathological abnormalities. We have previously described an increased level of DNA-hydrolyzing autoantibodies in the sera of patients with various autoimmune disorders [systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma], HIV infection and lymphoproliferative diseases accompanied by autoimmune manifestations. In the present study, we show that an increased level of catalytic activity of autoantibodies can be observed in the sera of autoimmune mice, thus providing a fundamental insight into the medical relevance of abzymes.