title: Antibodies to hn-RNP protein A1 in systemic lupus erythematosus: clinical association with Raynaud's phenomenon and esophageal dysmotility.
abstract: Antibodies to recombinant hn-RNP protein A1 were found by ELISA in sera from 26 out of 67 unselected patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. A higher number of anti-A1 positive patients had Raynaud's phenomenon (50% vs 7%) and esophageal dysmotility (42% vs 5%) than the anti-A1 negative patients. All 8 patients with both Raynaud's phenomenon and esophageal dysmotility had a positive anti-A1 assay. No association was found with other clinical findings, nor with disease activity and treatment regimes. Anti-A1 antibodies did not correlate with anti-RNP and anti-Sm antibodies, which were present in 30% and 12% of the anti-A1 positive cases and in 22% and 7% of the anti-A1 negative cases, respectively. Our results indicate that antibodies to hn-RNP protein A1 may be associated with a subset of SLE patients with clinical features overlapping those of progressive systemic sclerosis and quite distinct from the group identified by anti-RNP antibodies.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Patologia Medica, University of Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Montecucco
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Caporali
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cobianchi
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Negri
authors.forename: G C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Astaldi-Ricotti
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear / Q000032:analysis*; D001324:Autoantigens / Q000276:immunology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D015154:Esophageal Motility Disorders / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011928:Raynaud Disease / Q000276:immunology*; D055517:snRNP Core Proteins
chemical_list: D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear; D001324:Autoantigens; D055517:snRNP Core Proteins