[The role of anti-beta1-adrenergic receptor autoantibodies in development of heart failure].

Epitopic analysis of anti-beta1-adrenergic receptor autoantibodies in the serum of patients with cardiomyopathy was performed. An immunoenzyme test system for detection of autoantibodies was developed using peptide containing 26 amino acids of the second extracellular loop of the beta1-adrenergic receptor as antigen. It was demonstrated that removal of autoantibodies against beta1-adrenergic receptor in patients with cardiomyopathy by immunoadsorption and plasmapheresis metodes led to improvement of the heart pumping capacity.