Immunological investigations on the antigenic changes of human aortic elastin in aging and atherosclerosis.

Alpha-elastin of human aorta was investigated by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) on the material isolated from aborted human fetuses and healthy subjects killed by accident, assigned to 7 age groups. Samples up to the age of 55 were taken only from regions without detectable changes in the arterial wall, in the 60-75-year age group--both from normal areas and atherosclerotic plaques of the same aortas. An immune serum against alpha-elastin isolated from the normal aortic areas of a 61-year-old subject was produced in sheep. Testing with this serum showed the existence of some antigenic changes in the elastins from different age groups. A prevalence of the species-specific antigenic determinants was observed in alpha-elastin from fetal aorta while in alpha-elastin from the atherosclerotically altered human aorta the cross-reacting antigenic determinants prevailed in its antigenic structure.