{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,9]],"date-time":"2026-01-09T14:03:25Z","timestamp":1767967405026,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,21]],"date-time":"2021-10-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1634774400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Microorganisms"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Propionibacterium acnes is a potential etiologic agent of sarcoidosis and a dysregulated immune response to the commensal bacterium is suspected to cause granuloma formation. P. acnes-derived insoluble immune complexes were recently demonstrated in sinus macrophages of sarcoidosis lymph nodes, suggesting local proliferation of the bacterium in affected organs. In the present study, we developed a method for detecting P. acnes-derived immune complexes in human blood by measuring the concentration of P. acnes-specific lipoteichoic acid (PLTA) detectable after an antigen retrieval pretreatment of plasma samples. Before pretreatment, anti-PLTA antibody was detected and PLTA could not be detected, in all plasma samples from 51 sarcoidosis patients and 35 healthy volunteers. After pretreatment, however, a significant level of PLTA (&gt;105 ng\/mL) was detected in 33 (65%) sarcoidosis patients and 5 (14%) control subjects, with 86% specificity and 65% sensitivity for sarcoidosis. In both groups, plasma anti-PLTA antibody titers did not differ between samples with and without detection of PLTA. PLTA levels were abnormally increased (&gt;202 ng\/mL) in 21 (41%) sarcoidosis patients. These findings suggest that P. acnes-derived circulating immune complexes present in human blood are abnormally increased in many sarcoidosis patients, presumably due to local proliferation of the bacterium in the affected organs.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms9112194","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,22]],"date-time":"2021-10-22T00:22:02Z","timestamp":1634862122000},"page":"2194","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":12,"title":["Propionibacterium acnes-Derived Circulating Immune Complexes in Sarcoidosis Patients"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"9","author":[{"given":"Keisuke","family":"Uchida","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Surgical Pathology, Tokyo Medical and Dental University Hospital, Tokyo 113-8510, Japan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Asuka","family":"Furukawa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Human Pathology, Graduate School and Faculty of Medicine, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 113-8510, Japan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Akiko","family":"Yoneyama","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Nutrition Services, Tokyo Medical and Dental University Hospital, Tokyo 113-8510, Japan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5569-1051","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Haruhiko","family":"Furusawa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Integrated Pulmonology, Graduate School and Faculty of Medicine, Tokyo Medical and Dental University Hospital, Tokyo 113-8510, Japan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Daisuke","family":"Kobayashi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Human Pathology, Graduate School and Faculty of Medicine, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 113-8510, Japan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Takashi","family":"Ito","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Human Pathology, Graduate School and Faculty of Medicine, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 113-8510, Japan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Kurara","family":"Yamamoto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Human Pathology, Graduate School and Faculty of Medicine, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 113-8510, Japan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Masaki","family":"Sekine","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Surgical Pathology, Tokyo Medical and Dental University Hospital, Tokyo 113-8510, Japan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9238-6067","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Keiko","family":"Miura","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Surgical Pathology, Tokyo Medical and Dental University Hospital, Tokyo 113-8510, Japan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Takumi","family":"Akashi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Surgical Pathology, Tokyo Medical and Dental University Hospital, Tokyo 113-8510, Japan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0521-1670","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yoshinobu","family":"Eishi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Human Pathology, Graduate School and Faculty of Medicine, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 113-8510, Japan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Kenichi","family":"Ohashi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Human Pathology, Graduate School and Faculty of Medicine, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 113-8510, Japan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1155","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(13)60680-7","article-title":"Sarcoidosis","volume":"383","author":"Valeyre","year":"2014","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1018","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMra2101555","article-title":"Challenges of sarcoidosis and its management","volume":"385","author":"Drent","year":"2021","journal-title":"N. 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