# Application Value of Combined Detection of Anti-β2-GPI, ACL, and Lupus Anticoagulant in the Diagnosis of Patients with Antiphospholipid Syndrome

Authors: Li Peng; Hong Ding; Milan Yang; Yangyan Cheng; Xiaoyan Luo; Xin Fan; Wei Jiao
Journal: Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
 (2022)

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## Abstract

Objective. To investigate the application value of combined detection of anti-beta 2-glycoprotein I antibody (anti-β2-GPI), anti-cardiolipin antibody (ACL), and lupus anticoagulant (LA) in the diagnosis of patients with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). Methods. 30 APS patients in our hospital between Jan. 2020 and Jan. 2021 were chosen as the experimental group, and 30 healthy persons with normal physical examination during the same period were selected as the control group The anti-β2-GPI and ACL indexes of both groups were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), with the LA levels tested by modified dilute Russell’s viper venom time (dRVVT) and LA ratio calculated. The diagnostic efficacy of single detection and combined detection was analyzed by plotting the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results. The serum indexes in the experimental group were remarkably higher than those in the control group (P<0.001). ROC curve analysis suggested that in the diagnosis of APS, the area under the ROC curve by detecting anti-β2-GPI, ACL, LA ratio alone and simultaneously were 0.517, 0.583, 0.683, and 0.817 respectively, and the combined detection of the three had remarkably higher sensitivity and specificity than those of each single detection. Conclusion. The indexes of anti-β2-GPI, ACL, and LA ratio were highly expressed in APS patients, and the combined detection of the three has high diagnostic value and can effectively screen and assist the diagnosis of APS.


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## Body

## 1. Introduction

Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), a common disease in rheumatology and immunology, is an autoimmune disease caused by antiphospholipid antibody (APL), with clinical manifestations such as habitual abortion, neuropsychiatric symptoms, venous and arterial thrombosis, and thrombocytopenia [1]. According to epidemiology, the incidence of APS is usually <1%, predominantly in the female population, with a male to female incidence ratio of approximately 1 : 9 and a median female age of 30, and in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), the incidence of the disease ranges from 7% to 51% [2,3]. The pathogenesis of the disease remains unclear, and most scholars believe that it may be related to infection, genetics, and other factors [4]. APS is extremely dangerous and can lead to severe adverse pregnancy outcomes such as recurrent miscarriage or even death, which seriously endanger the life of patients, and early diagnosis is of great significance to improve pregnancy outcomes and prognosis of patients. Currently, the gold standard for clinical diagnosis of APS is APL, whose positive rate is 0.999%–4.89% in the healthy population and 5.59%, 9.87%, 10.98%, and 16.95% in patients with pathological pregnancy, venous thromboembolism, myocardial infarction, and stroke, respectively, according to Massimo et al. [5], indicating that it may be involved in the occurrence of related diseases. APLs are autoimmune antibodies that act on phospholipid-binding proteins, phospholipids, or their complexes, recognize and bind with phospholipid-binding proteins on platelets and endothelial cell membranes, and are mainly composed of anti-beta 2-glycoprotein I antibody (anti-β2-GPI), anti-cardiolipin antibody (ACL), and lupus anticoagulant (LA) [6]. LA is a heterogeneous immunoglobulin that mainly interferes with the phospholipid-dependent coagulation process and prolongs the clotting time. APLs can act directly on one or more plasma proteins that bind to phospholipids, the most important of which are prothrombin and β2-GP I. Anti-β2-GPI is currently considered to be the most relevant antibody in APL to the clinical manifestations of patients and more closely associated with thrombosis [7]. At the same time, it was noted that anti-β2-GPI of the same subtype (IgG, IgM, and IgA) positively correlated with ACL in APS sera [8]. Although the sensitivity of ACL detection is better than that of anti-β2-GPI detection in APS patients, anti-β2-GPI is more specific than ACL and LA. Also, a study has found that LA detection plays a decisive role in APS, and patients can be identified as being at high risk of thrombosis when they have moderate to high titers of ACL and anti-β2-GPI [9]. However, since there are many types of APLs, it is not only tedious and difficult to detect them one by one but also lacks operability. In order to explore a more reliable and convenient diagnostic method, this study conducts a combined detection of several indexes to provide guidance and reference for timely detection of APS and improvement of prognosis.


## 2. Materials and Methods

### 2.1. General Data

30 APS patients in our hospital between Jan. 2020 and Jan. 2021 were selected into the experimental group, and 30 healthy persons with normal physical examination during the same period were selected as the control group. The patients knew the purpose and process of the study, which has been approved by the ethics committee of our hospital and was in line with the Declaration of Helsinki (2013) [10].


### 2.2. Recruitment of Research Objects

Inclusion criteria were as follows: ① the patients’ disease conformed to the diagnostic criteria of APS inAntiphospholipid Syndrome in Systemic Autoimmune Diseases [11] and was confirmed by MRI; ② the patients had positive results of laboratory test for ACL more than twice (12-week interval between tests); and ③ the control group was physically fit.Exclusion criteria were as follows: ① patients unable to cooperate to complete the detection; ② patients with other connective tissue diseases (such as Sjogren’s syndrome, SLE, and undifferentiated connective tissue disease), malignant tumors, infection, or poisoning; ③ patients with incomplete clinical data; ④ patients with other thrombotic high-risk factors; and ⑤ patients with hepatic, renal, and cardiac insufficiency.


### 2.3. Methods

3 ml of fasting elbow venous blood was taken from the patients in the morning at admission. After the blood coagulated, the serum was centrifuged at 3000r/min for 5 min by a serum centrifuge (manufacturer: Haifuda Technology Co. Ltd.; model: FD31-T16), with the supernatant stored in a refrigerator at −80°C waiting for examination. The level of anti-β2-GPI in serum samples was detected by chemiluminescence apparatus (manufacturer: Shenzhen Yhlo Biotech Co. Ltd.; model: IFLASH3000) (reference range: >10R U/ml as positive); the level of serum ACL was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (reference range: >40 U/ml as positive) (with kits purchased from Shanghai Fusheng Industry Co. Ltd.), and the LA level was tested by modified dilute Russell’s viper venom time (dRVVT), with the results taken as LA ratio (LA ratio = LA screening test value/LA confirmatory test value, >1.2 indicated the presence of LA).


### 2.4. Observation Indexes

The serum levels of anti-β2-GPI (>10RU/ml as positive), ACL (>40 U/ml as positive), and LA ratio (>1.2 as positive) were compared between the two groups by laboratory tests, and the diagnostic efficacy of the above indexes in the diagnosis of APS was analyzed.


### 2.5. Statistical Disposal

The research data were statistically analyzed by SPSS21.0, with pictures plotted by GraphPad Prism 7 (GraphPad Software, San Diego, USA). The count data were tested byX2 and represented by (n(%)), while the measurement data tested by t-test and represented by (‾x ± s), and the difference was statistically significant when P<0.05 indicating a statistical difference. The diagnostic value of each index for APS was analyzed by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.


## 2.1. General Data

30 APS patients in our hospital between Jan. 2020 and Jan. 2021 were selected into the experimental group, and 30 healthy persons with normal physical examination during the same period were selected as the control group. The patients knew the purpose and process of the study, which has been approved by the ethics committee of our hospital and was in line with the Declaration of Helsinki (2013) [10].


## 2.2. Recruitment of Research Objects

Inclusion criteria were as follows: ① the patients’ disease conformed to the diagnostic criteria of APS inAntiphospholipid Syndrome in Systemic Autoimmune Diseases [11] and was confirmed by MRI; ② the patients had positive results of laboratory test for ACL more than twice (12-week interval between tests); and ③ the control group was physically fit.Exclusion criteria were as follows: ① patients unable to cooperate to complete the detection; ② patients with other connective tissue diseases (such as Sjogren’s syndrome, SLE, and undifferentiated connective tissue disease), malignant tumors, infection, or poisoning; ③ patients with incomplete clinical data; ④ patients with other thrombotic high-risk factors; and ⑤ patients with hepatic, renal, and cardiac insufficiency.


## 2.3. Methods

3 ml of fasting elbow venous blood was taken from the patients in the morning at admission. After the blood coagulated, the serum was centrifuged at 3000r/min for 5 min by a serum centrifuge (manufacturer: Haifuda Technology Co. Ltd.; model: FD31-T16), with the supernatant stored in a refrigerator at −80°C waiting for examination. The level of anti-β2-GPI in serum samples was detected by chemiluminescence apparatus (manufacturer: Shenzhen Yhlo Biotech Co. Ltd.; model: IFLASH3000) (reference range: >10R U/ml as positive); the level of serum ACL was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (reference range: >40 U/ml as positive) (with kits purchased from Shanghai Fusheng Industry Co. Ltd.), and the LA level was tested by modified dilute Russell’s viper venom time (dRVVT), with the results taken as LA ratio (LA ratio = LA screening test value/LA confirmatory test value, >1.2 indicated the presence of LA).


## 2.4. Observation Indexes

The serum levels of anti-β2-GPI (>10RU/ml as positive), ACL (>40 U/ml as positive), and LA ratio (>1.2 as positive) were compared between the two groups by laboratory tests, and the diagnostic efficacy of the above indexes in the diagnosis of APS was analyzed.


## 2.5. Statistical Disposal

The research data were statistically analyzed by SPSS21.0, with pictures plotted by GraphPad Prism 7 (GraphPad Software, San Diego, USA). The count data were tested byX2 and represented by (n(%)), while the measurement data tested by t-test and represented by (‾x ± s), and the difference was statistically significant when P<0.05 indicating a statistical difference. The diagnostic value of each index for APS was analyzed by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.


## 3. Results

### 3.1. Comparison of Baseline Data

No remarkable differences were found in the gender, age, BMI, career, education levels, religious beliefs, family income, and residence between both groups (P>0.05) (see Table 1).Table 1
Comparison of baseline data.
ItemsExperimental group (n = 30)Control group (n = 30)x2/tPGender0.2180.640Male3 (10.00%)2 (6.67%)Female27 (90.00%)28 (93.33%)Age (‾x ± s, years)31.47 ± 7.2232.30 ± 8.000.4220.675BMI (kg/m2)20.15 ± 0.5920.04 ± 0.550.7470.458CareerCivil servants5 (16.67%)6 (20.00%)0.1110.739Teachers4 (13.33%)5 (16.67%)0.1310.718Financial staff3 (10.00%)4 (13.33%)0.1620.688Farmers6 (20.00%)5 (16.67%)0.1110.739Workers8 (26.67%)6 (20.00%)0.3730.542Other4 (13.33%)4 (13.33%)0.0001.000Education levels0.1310.718High school and above25 (83.33%)26 (86.67%)Middle school and below5 (16.67%)4 (13.33%)Religious beliefs0.0770.781Yes10 (33.33%)9 (30.00%)No20 (66.67%)21 (70.00%)Family income0.3730.542≥3000 yuan/(man·month)24 (80.00%)22 (73.33%)<3000 yuan/(man·month)6 (20.00%)8 (26.67%)Residence0.0890.766Urban areas22 (73.33%)23 (76.67%)Rural areas8 (26.67%)7 (23.33%)


### 3.2. Comparison of Serum Indexes

The serum indexes in the experimental group were remarkably higher than those in the control group (P<0.001) (see Table 2).Table 2
Comparison of serum indexes (‾x ± S).
GroupsnAnti-β2-GPI (RU/ml−1)ACL (U/ml)LA ratioExperimental group3025.99 ± 2.4044.13 ± 3.121.86 ± 0.38Control group303.92 ± 0.634.03 ± 0.561.04 ± 0.13T48.71768.73411.346P<0.001<0.001<0.001


### 3.3. Diagnostic Efficacy of the Combined Detection of Anti-β2-GPI, ACL, and LA Ratio for APS

See Table3 and Figure 1 for details.Table 3
Diagnostic efficacy of the combined detection of anti-β2-GPI, ACL, and LA ratio for APS.
Detection methodsSpecificity (%)Sensitivity (%)Area under the ROC curvePositive predictive value (%)Negative predictive value (%)Progressive 95% confidence intervalAnti-β2-GPI75.8674.190.75076.6773.330.622–0.878ACL82.7680.650.81783.3380.000.703–0.931LA ratio79.3177.420.78380.0076.670.662–0.905Combined detection86.2183.870.85086.6783.330.745–0.955Figure 1
ROC curve of the combined detection of anti-β2-GPI, ACL, and LA ratio for APS.


## 3.1. Comparison of Baseline Data

No remarkable differences were found in the gender, age, BMI, career, education levels, religious beliefs, family income, and residence between both groups (P>0.05) (see Table 1).Table 1
Comparison of baseline data.
ItemsExperimental group (n = 30)Control group (n = 30)x2/tPGender0.2180.640Male3 (10.00%)2 (6.67%)Female27 (90.00%)28 (93.33%)Age (‾x ± s, years)31.47 ± 7.2232.30 ± 8.000.4220.675BMI (kg/m2)20.15 ± 0.5920.04 ± 0.550.7470.458CareerCivil servants5 (16.67%)6 (20.00%)0.1110.739Teachers4 (13.33%)5 (16.67%)0.1310.718Financial staff3 (10.00%)4 (13.33%)0.1620.688Farmers6 (20.00%)5 (16.67%)0.1110.739Workers8 (26.67%)6 (20.00%)0.3730.542Other4 (13.33%)4 (13.33%)0.0001.000Education levels0.1310.718High school and above25 (83.33%)26 (86.67%)Middle school and below5 (16.67%)4 (13.33%)Religious beliefs0.0770.781Yes10 (33.33%)9 (30.00%)No20 (66.67%)21 (70.00%)Family income0.3730.542≥3000 yuan/(man·month)24 (80.00%)22 (73.33%)<3000 yuan/(man·month)6 (20.00%)8 (26.67%)Residence0.0890.766Urban areas22 (73.33%)23 (76.67%)Rural areas8 (26.67%)7 (23.33%)


## 3.2. Comparison of Serum Indexes

The serum indexes in the experimental group were remarkably higher than those in the control group (P<0.001) (see Table 2).Table 2
Comparison of serum indexes (‾x ± S).
GroupsnAnti-β2-GPI (RU/ml−1)ACL (U/ml)LA ratioExperimental group3025.99 ± 2.4044.13 ± 3.121.86 ± 0.38Control group303.92 ± 0.634.03 ± 0.561.04 ± 0.13T48.71768.73411.346P<0.001<0.001<0.001


## 3.3. Diagnostic Efficacy of the Combined Detection of Anti-β2-GPI, ACL, and LA Ratio for APS

See Table3 and Figure 1 for details.Table 3
Diagnostic efficacy of the combined detection of anti-β2-GPI, ACL, and LA ratio for APS.
Detection methodsSpecificity (%)Sensitivity (%)Area under the ROC curvePositive predictive value (%)Negative predictive value (%)Progressive 95% confidence intervalAnti-β2-GPI75.8674.190.75076.6773.330.622–0.878ACL82.7680.650.81783.3380.000.703–0.931LA ratio79.3177.420.78380.0076.670.662–0.905Combined detection86.2183.870.85086.6783.330.745–0.955Figure 1
ROC curve of the combined detection of anti-β2-GPI, ACL, and LA ratio for APS.


## 4. Discussion

Pathological pregnancy and thrombosis are the main manifestations of APS, where the underlying cause is the high level of APL, whose positive results are the key to diagnose APS [12]. Ruffatti et al. [13] have pointed out that there are more than 30 kinds of APLs, most of which are non-criteria antibodies, so it is not only tedious and difficult to test them one by one but also lacks clinical operability. In order to find convenient and accurate indexes, we conducted the present study. ISTH has pointed out that anti-β2-GPI of the same subtype is positively correlated with ACL in the serum of APS patients, which also provides a new idea for the clinical diagnosis of APS. Anti-β2-GPI, ACL, and LA are important pathogenic antibodies for APS, which have high specificity and sensitivity in diagnosing APS by simple and reliable detection. At the same time, several previous studies have demonstrated that APL can bind to various cells such as platelets, vascular endothelial cells, and mononuclear cells and induce their activation and the development of APS-related clinical manifestations in response to the “second strike” of infection, inflammation, and other factors [14]. Research of Chezel et al. [15] has shown that the basic pathological change of APS is intravascular thrombosis, and laboratory tests revealed the presence of APL in the serum. The pathogenesis of APS may be mainly related to the genetic susceptibility of the body due to the following reasons: ① APLs can be caused by germline genetic mutations of encoding Ig variable region genes and ② only some patients tested positive for APL show clinical symptoms, suggesting that the occurrence of the disease is related to the susceptibility of the hosts. In recent years, it has been found that anti-β2-GPI is the main target antigen of APLs, which participates in coagulation and fibrinolysis processes in multiple links and has anticoagulant and procoagulant activities [16]. In contrast, a study on anti-β2-GPI has showed that coagulation is caused only after the triggering of pro-inflammatory cytokines, and that the production of antibodies by different subgroups against different epitopes of β2-GPI-based antigens plays an important role in the pathological mechanism of APS [17]. ACLs are a heterogeneous group of antibodies that can bind phosphatidylserine, cardiolipin, or phosphatidylinositol, which act on endothelial cells and inflammatory cells, increasing E selectin, endothelial growth factor, and tissue factor formation and keeping the body in an inflammatory state. At the same time, most scholars consider ACL as a reliable monitoring indicator of an increased risk of thrombosis [18,19]. Among the various APLs, LA is considered to be the most relevant index for the risk of miscarriage or thrombosis, which has been shown to be present in the blood of patients with multiple autoimmune diseases, leading to a hypercoagulable state of blood, and therefore is regarded as a risk factor for thrombosis [20,21]. In this study, all serum indexes were remarkably higher in the experimental group than in the control group (P<0.001), further confirming the important value of detecting anti-β2-GPI, ACL, and LA ratio in the diagnosis of APS.A study [22] has confirmed the high sensitivity and specificity of anti-β2-GPI in female infertility patients and patients with SLE and autoimmune hemolytic anemia. It has also been reported [23] that the ACL index is overexpressed in maintenance hemodialysis patients. Another study [24] stated that LA has high diagnostic value in patients with diabetic ketoacidosis and nosocomial pneumonia. However, due to the diversity and complexity of the biological properties of cells, single index detection has low sensitivity and specificity and cannot meet the clinical needs [25]. Therefore, detection that combines different serum indexes is required to improve the prognosis of APS patients, whose ROC curve was constructed in order to accurately and comprehensively evaluate the value of each serum index in the diagnosis of APS. The results indicated that the area under the ROC curve by the single detection of anti-β2-GPI, ACL, and LA ratio was 0.750, 0.817, and 0.783, respectively, suggesting that each serum index has certain diagnostic value for APS, but the chances of missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis are still high. At present, the combination of multiple indexes is commonly used to diagnose diseases in clinic, which improves the diagnostic efficacy to a certain extent. In this study, the diagnosis of APS by single and combined detection was analyzed, with results that the area under the curve of the combined detection of the three was higher than that of the single detection, suggesting that the combined detection of multiple indexes can improve the diagnostic efficacy of APS. Therefore, the combined detection has the highest diagnostic value for APS and can compensate for the lack of sensitivity or specificity of single detection, thus providing more accurate clinical information. Despite the improvement and advancement of medical technology, there are still many dilemmas in the clinical diagnosis of APS, so medical practitioners still need to make continuous efforts to explore more efficient diagnostic models to provide more reliable basis for the treatment of this disease. The contribution of this study is that the ROC curve has helped us to better understand the clinical diagnostic value of the indexes selected in this study for APS, which is a major clinical advancement with broad guiding significance and can undoubtedly be the direction of future medical development. The shortcomings of this study are as follows. The sample size was small due to the relevant conditions, with limited and unrepresentative sample source. The study was based on the population within the local area and excluded a sufficient number of patients from other provinces, leading to the results affected by the small sample size and regional culture. Therefore, it is necessary to further improve the study protocol, increase the sample size, and conduct a multi-center study to obtain more accurate conclusions. In conclusion, the preliminary findings of this study still need to be improved by more studies.



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*Source: 9377334-2022-11-03.xml*