Lack of evidence for the presence of neutrophil autoantibodies in the serum of patients with Felty's syndrome

Sera of 22 patients with Felty's syndrome and 14 patients with rheumatoid arthritis were tested in assays routinely used for the detection of neutrophil antibodies (i.e. immunofluorescence, agglutination and cytotoxicity tests) as well as in the antibody-dependent lymphocyte-mediated granulotoxicity test, One or more of the routinely used assays were positive in a high percentage of the sera (77% and 64%, respectively), the antibody-dependent lymphocyte-mediated granylocytotoxicity test was only positive with sera of three patients with Felty's syndrome. Positive results in the immunofluorescence and agglutination tests could be attributed to the presence of immune complexes in the sera, whereas positive antibody-dependent lymphocyte-mediated granulocytotoxicity tests were probably due to the presence of HLA alloantibodies. It is concluded that serological tests routinely used for the detection of neutrophil autoantibodies should be interpreted with caution in patients with Felty's syndrome. Our results also indicate that the neutropenia in Felty's syndrome is rarely, if ever, due to neutrophil-specific autoantibodies.