Presence of autoantibody against nasal mucosal cells in patients with Wegener's granulomatosis.

We examined whether or not patients with Wegener's granulomatosis have autoantibodies against the respiratory tract and kidney, by using the direct avidin-biotin-glucose oxidase complex method. On immunostaining, the IgG fractions obtained from the sera of 2 patients with Wegener's granulomatosis and of 7 controls were coupled with biotin, and each couple was used as the primary antibody. The serum IgG sample from 1 patient with Wegener's granulomatosis definitely reacted with epithelial cells of the nasal mucosa, with the strongest reaction in basal layer. The sample from another patients with Wegener's granulomatosis showed a similar but weaker reaction. Control sera showed negative reactions in 6 subjects (3 with rheumatoid arthritis, 1 with allergic granulomatous angiitis and 2 normal volunteers) and a very weak reaction in 1 patient with poly-arteritis nodosa. These observations suggest the presence of an autoantibody reacting with some cell components of the nasal epithelium in patients with Wegener's granulomatosis.