FIGURE 3.

Elevation of innate immune response to the AGEs in autoimmune diseases. A, the immunoreactivity of human plasma with the dsDNA. B, the immunoreactivity of human plasma with DHA-modified proteins. C, linear regression analysis between serum anti-dsDNA IgM and anti-DHA-modified protein IgM titers in SLE patients. The plasma samples were prepared from 5 healthy individuals, 20 patients with IgA nephropathy (IgA-N), and 26 patients with SLE. The levels of the IgM Abs against the dsDNA and AGEs in the plasma samples were measured by ELISA using calf thymus dsDNA and DHA-modified protein, respectively, as the coating antigens. The calculated p values were obtained by Welch's t test analysis.