Immunopathologic reactions may occur during
toxocariasis due to tissue invasion and destruction by the secretions of larvae containing various
enzymes with broad spectrum. The aim of this study was to search for
autoantibodies such as anti-nuclear (ANA), anti-mitochondrial (AMA), anti-smooth muscle (
ASMA), anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic (
ANCA), anti-
myeloperoxidase (MPO) and liver-kidney microsomal type 1 (LKM-1)
antibodies in patients with
toxocariasis, in order to investigate the role of
toxocariasis as a trigger factor for autoimmune reactions. Forty patients (22 were male; mean age: 35.6 +/- 10.7 years) diagnosed as
toxocariasis by clinical findings (
abdominal pain, allergic symptoms and/or
eosinophilia, without detection of any other causative agents, and without
liver dysfunction,
diabetes mellitus, cardiac or
renal failure, and
autoimmune disease) and in-house ELISA positivity and 32 healthy controls (16 were male; mean age: 40.7 +/- 11.2 years) were included to the study. ANA (screen), dsDNA, SS-A, SS-B, Scl-70,
LKM-1, MPO and M2
autoantibodies have been investigated by ELISA (Euroimmun, Germany), while
ANCA, AMA and
ASMA antibodies by indirect immunofluorescence (IMMCO, NY) methods.
Autoantibody positivity was detected in 18 (45%) patients of whom 11 yielded a single type, and 7 yielded > or = 2 types of
autoantibodies. This rate was 12.5% for control group (two subjects were positive for ANA-Screen, one for anti-M2 and one for anti-LKM-1). The difference between the total positivity rates in patient and control groups was found statistically significant (chi2 = 5.72, p = 0.004). The most frequent
autoantibody type among patients were
ASMA (n = 6), followed by anti-dsDNA (n = 5), anti-M2 (n = 5), anti-SS-B (n = 4), anti-LKM-1 (n = 3), anti-SS-A (n = 2),
ANCA (n = 2) and anti-MPO (n = 1). Positivity rate for
ASMA was found statistically significant in patients' group compared to controls (chi2 = 12.24, p = 0.03), while there was no significant difference between the groups in terms of other
autoantibody rates (p> 0.05). These data could be related to the possible release of
autoantigens following muscle tissue injury during
toxocariasis and/or antigenic mimicry of parasitic products during the
infection in which muscle invasion is frequently seen. In conclusion, since
autoantibodies are frequently detected in
toxocariasis, this situation should be taken into consideration in the presence of
autoantibodies.