Objectives: To determine the lymphoproliferative response to the 30-kDa protein (p30) of Salmonella typhimurium in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS).
Method: Lymphoproliferative response was determined in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 30 patients with AS and 40 healthy subjects. Cells were cultured with concanavalin A (Con A), a crude lysate of S. typhimurium (StCL), or p30. Lymphoproliferation was measured by the MTT assay.
Results: Our data show that the mitogenic response to Con A was similar in both groups studied; however, the lymphoproliferative response to StCL and p30 was statistically higher in AS patients than in healthy subjects.
Conclusions: Our data strongly suggest that S. typhimurium, and particularly p30, are associated with AS.