Anti-endothelial cell antibodies (AECA) have been detected in autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and scleroderma (PSS) but their role in pathogenesis is unknown. Immunofluorescence, immunohistochemistry, complement-dependent antibody lysis, and radioimmunoassay have been used in the past to detect AECA. We have developed a rapid, sensitive, and quantitative cellular enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect and characterize AECA. Sera were obtained from 28 normal volunteers, 28 patients with SLE, and 14 patients with PSS. We also performed studies in 47 patients with various monoclonal gammopathies. Endothelial cells (EC) were obtained from human umbilical veins by standard methods and subcultured on 96-well tissue culture plates without fixation. EC were then sequentially incubated with sera, peroxidase-conjugated goat anti-human Ig (IgG, IgM, or IgA), and substrate. Optical density readings were converted to arbitrary units by developing a standard curve. Heavy-chain specific antibodies were used to determine the class of AECA binding to EC. IgG was purified by using protein A columns and digested with pepsin to obtain F(ab')2 fragments. The mean units of AECA from normals were 19.3 for IgG and 12.5 for IgM. SLE sera showed significant levels of IgM AECA (37 units, P less than 0.001) but not IgG (29 units, P less than 0.1). PSS sera showed significant levels of both IgM AECA (38 units, P = 0.001) and IgG AECA (42.7 units, P less than 0.005). IgA AECA were not detected in normal, SLE, or PSS sera. Blocking Fc receptors with rabbit IgG did not affect the titer of IgG or IgM AECA.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)