Warning Causes Of Ankylosing spondylitis
The exact cause of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is not known, but there are some thoughts from the medical community about what might cause it. They believe it may be hereditary, run in families, secondary to bacterial infection and may develop with age.
Heredity
HLA-B27 is an antigen that helps the body create infection-fighting antibodies. It is protein in nature and thus can help your body make other proteins. Medical scientists discovered a connection between ankylosing spondylitis and this genetic marker in 1973.
However, a link does not indicate a direct connection as not everyone who has the antigen HLA-B27 will necessarily have ankylosing spondylitis and not everyone with ankylosing spondylitis has the HLA-B27 antigen. Interestingly, about 90% of the people suffering from AS do have the marker.
Researchers are not precisely sure how HLA-B27 is related to AS, but they think it helps to cause the disease. There are two different theories among medical professionals related to the development of AS and this marker.
- The HLA-B27 antigen changes the way certain disease-causing bacteria communicate with the body, enabling the development of inflammation and swelling that can lead to fresh bones — where your body should not have bones (e.g., linking your vertebrae).
- The HLA-B27 protein affects the way your body works with other proteins, altering the immune system of the body. It simply means that the HLA work to trigger the production of auto-antibodies that further tend to destroy the bones, ligaments, and tendons.