Levels of epitope-specific autoantibodies correlate with renal damage in anti-GBM disease
Background. Although the clinical importance of demonstrating the presence of anti-glomerular basement membrane (anti-GBM) antibodies is well established, less is known concerning the clinical utility of measuring the levels of autoantibodies. Two conformational epitopes of anti-GBM antibodies have been defined at residues 17-31 and 127-141 of the alpha 3(IV)NC1 domain of type IV collagen [alpha 3