Antibody glycosylation as a potential biomarker for chronic inflammatory autoimmune diseases

Abstract Glycosylation of immunoglobulins (Ig) is known to influence their effector functions in physiological and pathological conditions. Changes in the glycosylation pattern of immunoglobulin G and autoantibodies in various inflammatory autoimmune diseases have been studied for many years. However, despite extensive research, many questions are still elusive regarding the formation of such differentially glycosylated antibodies and alterations of glycosylation patterns in other immunoglobulin classes for example. Nevertheless, knowledge has been deepened greatly, especially in the field of rheumatoid arthritis. Changes of Ig glycosylation patterns have been shown to appear before onset of the disease and moreover can subject to treatment. In this review, we discuss the potential of detecting Ig glycosylation changes as biomarkers for disease activity or monitoring of patients with chronic inflammatory autoimmune diseases such as antiphospholipid syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, ANCA-associated vasculitis and Henoch-Schönlein purpura.