Autoimmune postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome

Ann Clin Transl Neurol. 2018 Feb 28;5(4):486-492. doi: 10.1002/acn3.524. eCollection 2018 Apr.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) and circulating antiganglionic acetylcholine receptor (gAChR) antibodies. We reviewed clinical assessments of Japanese patients with POTS, and determined the presence of gAChR antibodies in serum samples from those patients. Luciferase immunoprecipitation systems detected anti-gAChR α3 and β4 antibodies in the sera from POTS (29%). Antecedent infections were frequently reported in patients in POTS patients. Moreover, autoimmune markers and comorbid autoimmune diseases were also frequent in seropositive POTS patients. Anti-gAChR antibodies were detectable in significant number of patients with POTS, and POTS entailed the element of autoimmune basis.

Grants and funding

This work was funded by Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare grant ; Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan grant ; JSPS KAKENHI grants 25461305 and 16K09695.