A 24 year old woman was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosis (SLE) based on a few months’ history of a photosensitive skin rash, predominantly on her face, arthralgia involving both hands and wrists, a positive antinuclear antibody (ANA) test and a raised antinative double stranded DNA antibody binding level. She was treated with oral hydroxychloroquine 400 mg daily and short courses of ...

We present a case of a 47 year-old African American female with 15 pack-years of tobacco use and heavy alcohol use who presented with arthritis and was found to have a positive antinuclear antibodies (ANA), anti double stranded DNA antibodies (anti-dsDNA), and anti-Sjogren's syndrome-related antigen A and antigen B (anti-SSA and anti-SSB). She was subsequently found to have a lung adenocarcinom...

BACKGROUND Research on autoantibody formation in patients treated with TNF alpha inhibitors has produced contradictory results. OBJECTIVE To study the prevalence of autoantibodies in patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with the TNF alpha inhibitor infliximab. METHODS 53 patients (48 female, 11 male) treated with infliximab for rheumatoid arthritis were followed for autoantibody produ...

Background: Detection of antinuclear antibody (ANA) is used as one of the diagnostic criteria for autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARD). Both indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) and enzyme linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) methods are used for this purpose. However, there are lack of data comparing these two tests from India. Methods: We prospectively studed 294 patients clinically suspected to be...

Pitfalls in the method for demonstrating antinuclear antibodies (ANA) by the indirect immunofluorescence technique are described and the use of international standard preparations outlined. Determination of the optimal border dilution dividing positive from negative results is discussed. Each laboratory is a unique setting; it must define its own method, which should rarely be changed. One shou...

Background Biologic agents may cause auto-antibody formation and drug induced lupus but no paediatric guidelines exist regarding monitoring of auto-antibodies. The UK Royal College of Nursing Guidance advises checking ANA and anti-dsDNA before starting biologic treatment and repeating anti-dsDNA if concerned. The Alder Hey protocol tested an autoantibody profile (Table 1, 2) 3-6 monthly for dat...

Testing for the presence of antinuclear antibodies (ANAs) is a key step in the diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and other systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARD). The standard slide-based indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) test is widely used, but is limited by a relative lack of specificity for SLE and not all SARD-ANAs are detected. Alternative immunoassays that might offe...

Background: Research on autoantibody formation in patients treated with TNFa inhibitors has produced contradictory results. Objective: To study the prevalence of autoantibodies in patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with the TNFa inhibitor infliximab. Methods: 53 patients (48 female, 11 male) treated with infliximab for rheumatoid arthritis were followed for autoantibody production befor...

PROBLEM Systemic lupus erythematosous (SLE) is a chronic disease with a broad spectrum of clinical and immunological manifestations, therefore, this condition may be frequently misdiagnosed. The current study was conducted to determine the prevalence of undiagnosed SLE among a cohort of infertile women. METHOD OF STUDY Screening was performed using sequential (two stage) testing, which includ...

In this study of autoimmunity among a population of Gullah African Americans in South Carolina, the links between environmental exposures and autoimmunity (presence of antinuclear antibodies (ANA)) have been assessed. The study population included patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (n = 10), their first degree relatives (n = 61), and unrelated controls (n = 9) where 47.5% (n = 38) were ...