Effect of splenectomy and the functional hyposplenism of coeliac disease on auto-antibody formation

Auto-antibodies or rheumatoid factor were detected in 10.3% of 78 normal subjects, 16.8% of 89 splenectomised subjects, 15.4% of 39 normosplenic coeliacs and 18.3% of 49 hyposplenic coeliacs. Auto-antibodies tended to occur in older subjects but the presence of hyposplenism did not result in their formation at a younger age. The presence of the HLA-B8 antigen did not significantly effect auto-antibody formation in any of the 3 study populations. We conclude that auto-antibody formation is not influenced by splenic function or the HLA-B8 antigen.