National Science Foundation Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research Summer Undergraduate Diversity Research Program Meredith Reyes Faculty Advisor Dr. Jean Pfau Center for Environmental Health Sciences Assessment of ANA and Serum IgA Levels After Asbestos Exposure Abstract

Autoimmunity is the condition where the immune system reacts towards self-molecules. Studies have shown that environmental agents like asbestos have been linked to autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, schleroderma, and systemic lupus erythematosus (Parks, 1999). Based on a pilot study involving individuals from Libby MT, it was shown that there was an increase in the levels of autoantibodies compared to a matched control group from Missoula. A continuation of this study was performed on an expanded sample set from Libby and Missoula without knowledge of their levels of asbestos exposure or their disease. The serum samples were analyzed for anti-nuclear antibodies using a commercially available indirect immunofluorescence test. An anti-IgA enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was also performed on the serum samples. If the presence of autoantibodies is playing a role in the disease status, the most likely immunoglobulin class to be involved would be IgA. We therefore hypothesize that there will be higher levels of autoantibodies and serum IgA in individuals exposed to asbestos. We are now generating data for analysis on the correlation of autoantibodies with IgA and possibly with exposure data.