ABSTRACT
Antinuclear antibodies (ANA) are widely detected by immunofluorescence on HEp-2 cells in patients with connective tissue diseases and other pathological conditions. We evaluated the first-automated chemiluminescence immunoassay for the detection of ANA (LIAISON ANA screen, DiaSorin). This study was carried out simultaneously in two laboratories by testing 327 patient samples with clinically defined connective diseases, 273 routine samples for ANA screening, and 300 blood donors. A total of 268 out of 337 IIF-positive sera were positive with LIAISON ANA screen (79.5% of agreement) and 240 out of 263 IIF-negative sera were negative with LIAISON ANA screen (91.2% of agreement). After resolution of discrepant results, the concordance reached, respectively, 94.9% and 98.8%. The specificity was 99.3% and the sensitivity was 94%. Unlike results obtained by other ANA screening assays, we observed acceptable sensitivity and specificity. Despite the presence of HEp-2 cell extract, we failed to detect some antibodies as antinucleolar, antinuclear envelope, and antiproliferating cell nuclear antigen. This automated assay allows quick process to results and exhibits satisfactory sensitivity for the detection of the main ANA specificities of connective tissue diseases.
Subject(s)
Antibodies, Antinuclear/blood , Autoimmune Diseases/blood , Autoimmune Diseases/diagnosis , Mass Screening/methods , Adult , Antibodies, Antinuclear/immunology , Autoimmune Diseases/immunology , Blood Donors , Female , Humans , Male , Middle AgedABSTRACT
This brief review is focused on different methodologies available for detection of anti-dsDNA antibodies with respect to the best adequacy between biological results of laboratory and clinical significance. A large array of assays has been developed for the measurement of anti-dsDNA. New assays continually introduced have reflected not only technical innovations to avoid difficulties of some assays, but even more with hope to correlate better with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), particularly with its clinical course and exacerbations. Finally, with the development of micro arrays technology new insights into the pathophysiology of autoimmune disease processes should be revealed.
Subject(s)
Antibodies, Antinuclear/analysis , Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic/diagnosis , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay/methods , Fluorescent Antibody Technique/methods , Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic/immunology , Microarray Analysis/methods , Radioimmunoassay/methodsABSTRACT
Two brothers with infantile myofibromatosis are reported. Both had cutaneous and skeletal myofibromas with spontaneous and complete healing of their cutaneous lesions. These cases suggest autosomal recessive inheritance of this rare disorder.
