Non organ-specific autoantibodies in healthy and in cardiomyopathic elderly subjects

The presence of non organ-specific autoantibodies ( anti-nuclear, anti-mitochondrial, anti smooth-muscle, anti gastric parietal cells) was determined in two groups of elderly subjects: in 36 subjects over 65 years age, affected by ischemic cardiomyopathy due to atherosclerosis and in 29 healthy subjects matched for age and sex. The frequency of the autoantibodies tested resulted quite similar in both the populations examined. We conclude that the observed increase of non organ-specific autoantibodies in aging does not depend on age-associated pathologies but on the immunological senescence itself