Anti-endothelial cell antibodies do not correlate with disease activity in systemic sclerosis

Anti-endothelial cell antibodies (AECA) recognize endothelial cell proteins and are thought to play an important role in vascular damage observed in systemic scleroderma (SSc) and many other autoimmune diseases. In SSc, AECA were found to be more common in patients with pulmonary hypertension, digital ulcers and nailfold capillaroscopic changes. Until now, there have been no studies examining the association between AECA positivity with the activity and duration of the disease