Figure 2. Autoantibody profile and fuctional analysis of sputum
B-cells. (A, B) Significantly higher anti-nuclear antibody (ANA) was
observed in SEA and MEA as compared to HC. The calculated cut-off was
based on 95th percentile HC subjects, as represented
by dotted lines. (C) Significant positive correlation between sputum ANA
and anti-EPX IgG. (D, E) Sputum ANA is positively correlated
with sputum B-cell proportion and numbers. (F) Sputum B-cells
showed an increased trend in autoimmune airways (G, H) Profile
of unstimulated B-cells ELISpot assay in SEA (n=17) and MEA (n=5) showed
predominant IgG and IgA ASC. (I) ELISpot assay detects
antibody-secreting cells in sputa, that produce anti-EPX IgG and IgA