ANA negative systemic lupus erythematosus sera revisited serologically.
OBJECTIVE
To better define the serology of a panel of sera from patients with a clinical diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) or subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus (SCLE) with a negative antinuclear antibody (ANA) test on mouse liver.


METHODS
Sensitive ELISA methods for anti-Ro/SSA, anti-La/SSB, and anti-U1RNP were applied to a panel of 76 sera with either SLE or SCLE and a negative ANA test on mouse liver.


RESULTS
These sera had previously been shown to have a high prevalence of anti-Ro/SSA (68%) and anti-La/SSB (27%) precipitins respectively. None had precipitins to U1RNP or Sm. ELISA methodology revealed that all of the sera 76/76 (100%) had elevated levels (> mean +/- 2 SD of a panel of 21 normal sera) of anti-Ro/SSA, 36/76 (46%) had elevated levels of anti-La/SSB, and 27 of 76 (35%) had elevated levels of anti-U1RNP.


CONCLUSIONS
The subset of patients with SLE and SCLE with a negative ANA test on mouse liver almost uniformly have antibodies to the Ro/SSA antigen by a sensitive ELISA. This adds evidence to the idea that this is a more homogeneous disease subset within the spectrum of SLE.
Reichlin
M
M
Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City 73104, USA.
D000818:Animals; D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear / Q000097:blood*; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D001324:Autoantigens / Q000276:immunology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006801:Humans; D008178:Lupus Erythematosus, Cutaneous / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology*; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D011233:Precipitin Tests; D020733:RNA, Small Cytoplasmic; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012261:Ribonucleoproteins / Q000276:immunology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D000097585:SS-B Antigen; D000099207:SS-A Antigen
D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear; D001323:Autoantibodies; D001324:Autoantigens; D020733:RNA, Small Cytoplasmic; D012261:Ribonucleoproteins; D000097585:SS-B Antigen; D000099207:SS-A Antigen; C116006:RO60 protein, human