Clinical and diagnostic value of ribosomal P autoantibodies in systemic lupus erythematosus.
OBJECTIVE
To analyse prospectively the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity as well as the clinical relevance of ribosomal P (anti-P) autoantibodies in a large cohort of SLE patients.


METHODS
The anti-P autoantibodies were evaluated in the serum of 200 Tunisian SLE patients at disease onset and 130 various control subjects by a sensitive immunodot assay. A complete laboratory evaluation and clinical examination were performed in each SLE patient. During the follow-up, the patients were regularly monitored for clinical parameters. Global SLE activity was measured by the ECLAM.


RESULTS
The sensitivity and specificity of anti-P testing for SLE were 23.5 and 98.4%, respectively. The anti-P-positive samples 14/47 (29.8%), 27/47 (57.4%) and 5/47 (10.6%) were negative for anti-dsDNA, anti-Sm or both antibodies, respectively. The anti-P-positive patients showed more active disease activity and a much higher prevalence of arthritis. An association between IgG aCLs and anti-P antibodies was also found. However, anti-P antibodies were not associated with neuropsychiatric manifestations or lupus nephritis.


CONCLUSIONS
This study does not seem to confirm the described association of anti-P antibodies with neuropsychiatric manifestations of SLE. However, it supports the anti-P antibody association with arthritis and disease activity as well as the presence of aCL. Based on our study and other related studies, we propose that, akin to anti-Sm and anti-dsDNA, anti-P antibodies detected by one agreed method may be considered for inclusion as a criterion for the classification of SLE.
Haddouk
Samy
S
Immunology Laboratory, Habib Bourguiba University Hospital of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia. hadsamy@yahoo.fr
Marzouk
Sameh
S
Jallouli
Moez
M
Fourati
Hajer
H
Frigui
Makram
M
Hmida
Youssef B H
YB
Koubaa
Faten
F
Sellami
Wassim
W
Baklouti
Sofiene
S
Hachicha
Jamil
J
Bahloul
Zouheir
Z
Masmoudi
Hatem
H
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017153:Antibodies, Anticardiolipin / Q000097:blood; D001168:Arthritis / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012269:Ribosomal Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D055815:Young Adult
D017153:Antibodies, Anticardiolipin; D001323:Autoantibodies; D015415:Biomarkers; D012269:Ribosomal Proteins; C054675:ribosomal protein P0