Lack of humoral response against Helicobacter pylori peptides homologous to human ZnT8 in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis patients

Introduction: The Helicobacter pylori (HP) reinfection rate seems to be higher in developing countries than in developed ones. An increased seroprevalence of HP has also been reported in patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT). Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Speranza Masala, Davide Cossu, Magdalena Niegowska, Giuseppe Mameli, Daniela Paccagnini, Leonardo A Sechi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries 2015-07-01
Series:Journal of Infection in Developing Countries
Subjects:
Online Access:https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/6284
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850148597852536832
author Speranza Masala
Davide Cossu
Magdalena Niegowska
Giuseppe Mameli
Daniela Paccagnini
Leonardo A Sechi
author_facet Speranza Masala
Davide Cossu
Magdalena Niegowska
Giuseppe Mameli
Daniela Paccagnini
Leonardo A Sechi
author_sort Speranza Masala
collection DOAJ
description Introduction: The Helicobacter pylori (HP) reinfection rate seems to be higher in developing countries than in developed ones. An increased seroprevalence of HP has also been reported in patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT). Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) has been linked to both T1D and HT. Quite a few lines of evidence indicate that autoantibodies against several epitopes belonging to human zinc transporter 8 (ZnT8) cross-recognize the homologous MAP3865c epitopes in both T1D and HT patients. HP may play a role in HT disease, most likely acting through a molecular mimicry mechanism that targets ZnT8 as reported for MAP and the two autoimmune diseases. Methodology: An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) has been developed for the detection of antibodies against several epitopes deriving from HP proteins, which are highly homologous to the immunodominant ZnT8 peptides previously identified: ZnT8178–186 and ZnT8186–194. Results: None of the HP peptides tested were significantly recognized when the humoral responses of 92 HT patients and 91 healthy volunteers were analyzed. Conclusions: These findings do not support a triggering role for HP (through ZnT8 mimicking) in HT. If a molecular mimicry phenomenon is taking place, it involves a different self-antigen. Moreover, the negative outcome of the experiments performed stresses the fact that sharing stretches of sequence homology is relevant, but not enough to trigger an antibody-mediated cross-recognition.
format Article
id doaj-art-bfb5a266b91846f4a95c17b3e5d5985a
institution OA Journals
issn 1972-2680
language English
publishDate 2015-07-01
publisher The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries
record_format Article
series Journal of Infection in Developing Countries
spelling doaj-art-bfb5a266b91846f4a95c17b3e5d5985a2025-08-20T02:27:12ZengThe Journal of Infection in Developing CountriesJournal of Infection in Developing Countries1972-26802015-07-0190610.3855/jidc.6284Lack of humoral response against Helicobacter pylori peptides homologous to human ZnT8 in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis patientsSperanza Masala0Davide Cossu1Magdalena Niegowska2Giuseppe Mameli3Daniela Paccagnini4Leonardo A Sechi5University of Sassari, Sassari, ItalyUniversity of Sassari, Sassari, ItalyUniversity of Sassari, Sassari, ItalyUniversity of Sassari, Sassari, ItalyUniversity of Sassari, Sassari, ItalyUniversity of Sassari, Sassari, ItalyIntroduction: The Helicobacter pylori (HP) reinfection rate seems to be higher in developing countries than in developed ones. An increased seroprevalence of HP has also been reported in patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT). Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) has been linked to both T1D and HT. Quite a few lines of evidence indicate that autoantibodies against several epitopes belonging to human zinc transporter 8 (ZnT8) cross-recognize the homologous MAP3865c epitopes in both T1D and HT patients. HP may play a role in HT disease, most likely acting through a molecular mimicry mechanism that targets ZnT8 as reported for MAP and the two autoimmune diseases. Methodology: An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) has been developed for the detection of antibodies against several epitopes deriving from HP proteins, which are highly homologous to the immunodominant ZnT8 peptides previously identified: ZnT8178–186 and ZnT8186–194. Results: None of the HP peptides tested were significantly recognized when the humoral responses of 92 HT patients and 91 healthy volunteers were analyzed. Conclusions: These findings do not support a triggering role for HP (through ZnT8 mimicking) in HT. If a molecular mimicry phenomenon is taking place, it involves a different self-antigen. Moreover, the negative outcome of the experiments performed stresses the fact that sharing stretches of sequence homology is relevant, but not enough to trigger an antibody-mediated cross-recognition. https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/6284zinc transporter 8Hashimoto’s thyroiditisHelicobacter pylori
spellingShingle Speranza Masala
Davide Cossu
Magdalena Niegowska
Giuseppe Mameli
Daniela Paccagnini
Leonardo A Sechi
Lack of humoral response against Helicobacter pylori peptides homologous to human ZnT8 in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis patients
Journal of Infection in Developing Countries
zinc transporter 8
Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
Helicobacter pylori
title Lack of humoral response against Helicobacter pylori peptides homologous to human ZnT8 in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis patients
title_full Lack of humoral response against Helicobacter pylori peptides homologous to human ZnT8 in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis patients
title_fullStr Lack of humoral response against Helicobacter pylori peptides homologous to human ZnT8 in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis patients
title_full_unstemmed Lack of humoral response against Helicobacter pylori peptides homologous to human ZnT8 in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis patients
title_short Lack of humoral response against Helicobacter pylori peptides homologous to human ZnT8 in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis patients
title_sort lack of humoral response against helicobacter pylori peptides homologous to human znt8 in hashimoto s thyroiditis patients
topic zinc transporter 8
Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
Helicobacter pylori
url https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/6284
work_keys_str_mv AT speranzamasala lackofhumoralresponseagainsthelicobacterpyloripeptideshomologoustohumanznt8inhashimotosthyroiditispatients
AT davidecossu lackofhumoralresponseagainsthelicobacterpyloripeptideshomologoustohumanznt8inhashimotosthyroiditispatients
AT magdalenaniegowska lackofhumoralresponseagainsthelicobacterpyloripeptideshomologoustohumanznt8inhashimotosthyroiditispatients
AT giuseppemameli lackofhumoralresponseagainsthelicobacterpyloripeptideshomologoustohumanznt8inhashimotosthyroiditispatients
AT danielapaccagnini lackofhumoralresponseagainsthelicobacterpyloripeptideshomologoustohumanznt8inhashimotosthyroiditispatients
AT leonardoasechi lackofhumoralresponseagainsthelicobacterpyloripeptideshomologoustohumanznt8inhashimotosthyroiditispatients