Antiphospholipid antibodies and atherosclerosis

Antiphospholipid antibodies (APA) are present in a variety of autoimmune disorders, including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and the antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). Increasing evidence suggests that a subset of APA can also be detected in patients with atherosclerosis. In this review, we discuss the specificities of the autoantibodies that are present during both APS and atherosclerosis. A critical and unresolved question is whether these APA are specific for epitopes that result from lipid oxidation. Despite the fact that APA are present in patients with systemic autoimmunity and that they may participate in the pathogenesis of APS, recent studies have paradoxically proposed a beneficial role for some APA in atherosclerosis. We review the evidence that some APA specificities may be protective against plaque formation, and we discuss the putative mechanisms by which some APA could be useful in the prevention of atherosclerosis.