Antiendothelial cell antibodies in patients with Wegener's granulomatosis: prevalence and correlation with disease activity and manifestations.

Objective: Previous studies in small cohorts of patients with Wegener's granulomatosis (WG) or antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) associated vasculitis have yielded conflicting data regarding the prevalence of antiendothelial cell antibodies (AECA), ranging from 8% to 100%, and the use of AECA as a measure of disease activity. We examined a large, well-characterized cohort of patients with WG and active disease for the presence of AECA.

Methods: Serum from subjects with WG who participated in a clinical therapeutic trial was collected at baseline, when all subjects had active disease.