Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) are important serologic markers for ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV). Our previous studies in propylthiouracil (PTU)-induced AAV demonstrated that withdrawal of PTU resulted in clinical remission and significant decrease of avidity of PTU-induced myeloperoxidase (MPO)-ANCA. This study investigated the changes in avidity and titer of MPO-ANCA in seque...

The concurrent antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated glomerulonephritis (ANCA-GN) and membranous nephropathy (MN) have been increasingly documented, mainly in case studies and case series; however, the differences of clinical and pathologic characteristics as well as outcomes between ANCA-GN patients with and without MN remain unclear. The current study investigated the clinical and im...

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a disease with multiorgan involvement and multiple autoantibody production including antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA). Despite its reported prevalence in more than one third of SLE patients, the role of ANCA in the pathogenesis or otherwise in SLE remains unresolved. 131 SLE patients had been previously studied for various serologic parameters o...

OBJECTIVE This study was aimed at verifying any potential correlation between anti-myeloperoxidase antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA-MPO) and clinical features and outcome indices in Churg-Strauss Syndrome (CSS). METHODS Thirty-eight Churg-Strauss syndrome patients were selected from the medical records of all vasculitis patients attending the Rheumatology and Immunology Unit at the...

The patterns of ANCA staining usually relate closely to antibodies against myeloperoxidase and proteinase-3. C-ANCA is mainly antibodies to proteinase-3 and P-ANCA is antibodies to myeloperoxidase. C-ANCA with antibodies to MPO with clinical sequelae is unusual.

The occurrence of perinuclear anti-neutrophilic cytoplasmic antibodies (p-ANCA) in pulmonary fibrosis has been reported in a number of small studies, however, the appearance of p-ANCA in already established idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), predating the manifestations of vasculitis has not been widely appreciated. We report 2 cases with radiographic evidence of established IPF where p-ANCA ...

UNLABELLED BACKGROUND Patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) carry autoantibodies such as perinuclear antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (p-ANCA). OBJECTIVE The aim of the present study was to evaluate the target antigens for p-ANCA in Iranian patients with UC. METHODS p-ANCA target antigens including elastase, lactoferrin, cathepsin G, myeloproxidase, lysozyme, and bactericidal permeabilit...

Accumulating in vivo and in vitro evidence supports the hypothesis that antineutrophil cytoplasm autoantibodies (ANCA) with specificity for proteinase 3 (PR3) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) are involved in the pathophysiology of small-vessel vasculitis. The best-described effector function of these autoantibodies is stimulation of neutrophils to produce reactive oxygen species and to release proteol...

The possible link between pulmonary fibrosis, anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody (ANCA) positivity, and vasculitis is poorly understood. During the past 6 years, five retrospective case-control studies have been published. These studies suggest that pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is an underestimated manifestation of ANCA-associated vasculitis. Common clinical characteristics include older age (...

OBJECTIVES Recently published findings suggested that antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA), particularly those with a cytoplasmic (C-ANCA) labelling pattern and targeting proteinase 3 (anti-PR3), might be markers of tuberculosis (TB). This is a critical issue, because C-ANCA/anti-PR3 were considered to be a highly specific hallmark of Wegener's granulomatosis or microscopic polyangiitis...