Anti‐cytokine autoantibodies are ubiquitous in healthy individuals

Abstract

Anti‐cytokine autoantibodies in healthy individuals have been widely reported but the occurrence is variable and inconstant. We hypothesized that cytokine‐binding in vivo may explain their variable and infrequent detection. Therefore, we focused on the detection of the cytokine‐autoantibody complexes and found that anti‐cytokine autoantibody to IL‐2, IL‐8, tumor necrosis factor‐α, vascular endothelial growth factor and granulocyte‐colony stimulating factor were present in all 15 individuals evaluated, while those to IL‐3, osteopontin and macrophage‐colony stimulating factor were not detected in anyone. Autoantibodies against IL‐4, IL‐6, IL‐10, and interferon‐gamma were variously detected. Thus, we discovered that anti‐cytokine autoantibodies to multiple cytokines are ubiquitous in healthy individuals.