{
  "abstract": "Objective To determine whether autoantibodies against interferons are present and play a role in disease modulation in idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs).Methods We screened for autoantibodies against a large number of interferons (IFNs) and other cytokines in a cross-sectional observational cohort of Swedish patients with anti-synthetase syndrome (n=51) and dermatomyositis (n=48), matched together with blood donors (n=100) from general population, using both planar and suspension-based multiplex assays. A single patient with autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome, type-1 (APS-1), known to harbour autoantibodies that neutralise type-I interferons, was included as a reference biological positive. The functional ability of autoantibodies to neutralise type-I interferons was tested in vitro, using an IFN-α/β responsive cell reporter assay.Result The initial screening of plasma samples indicated a repertoire of autoantibodies in IIM patients against a number of common myositis-specific and myositis-associated antigens. On screening for autoantibodies against type-I, II or III interferons, we did not find any evidence of anti-IFN autoantibodies being present in any of the IIM patient subgroups or the blood donors from general population. Additionally, none of the tested plasma samples, except the APS-1, exhibited neutralisation of physiological concentration IFN-α2, further confirming a complete lack of functional autoantibodies against IFN-α subtypes in this cohort.Conclusions We did not detect neutralising autoantibodies against IFN-α and autoantibodies against other types of IFNs in a Swedish cohort of IIM patients. These findings contrast with the presence of autoantibodies against type-I IFNs in other systemic autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus, characterised by type-I IFN overactivation.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Science for Life Laboratory, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden"
      ],
      "name": "Anish Behere"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Science for Life Laboratory, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden"
      ],
      "name": "Hedvig Mildner"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Gastro, Dermatology and Rheumatology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden",
        "Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Solna, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden",
        "Center for Molecular Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden"
      ],
      "name": "Irene Peralta Garcia"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Science for Life Laboratory, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden"
      ],
      "name": "César Pérez Bucio"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Gastro, Dermatology and Rheumatology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden",
        "Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Solna, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden",
        "Center for Molecular Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden"
      ],
      "name": "Ingrid Lundberg"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Solna, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden",
        "Center for Molecular Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden"
      ],
      "name": "Begum Horuluoglu"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Science for Life Laboratory, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden",
        "Center for Molecular Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden"
      ],
      "name": "Nils Landegren"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies lack neutralising autoantibodies to type- I, II and III interferons",
  "uid": "0601c8cb-bcdb-5300-8fa6-674773cd13d9"
}