title: Anti-ro52 antibodies and interstitial lung disease in connective tissue diseases excluding scleroderma.
abstract: Introduction. The presence of anti-Ro52 antibodies has been reported in a wide variety of autoimmune diseases, particularly in myositis, scleroderma, and autoimmune liver diseases. Clinical significance of anti-Ro52 antibodies remains controversial, and studies are lacking for clarifying the association of anti-Ro52 with interstitial lung disease (ILD) in connective tissue diseases (CTD). Objectives. To determine if anti-Ro52 antibodies are associated with ILD in CTD other than scleroderma. Methods. Single-center, retrospective study based on immunoblotting panel analysis and patients clinical records. Results. In our connective tissue disease cohort, 162 patients had immunoblotting panels with anti-Ro52 reactivity analysis, 41 (25,3%) had inclusion criteria. Among the 41 selected sera, 85.4% (n = 35) had anti-Ro52 reactivity. The prevalence of ILD in the positive anti-Ro52 antibodies was 71.4% (n = 25), and 16.7% (n = 1) in the negative anti-Ro52 group (P = 0.018). Overall sensitivity (96.2%), specificity (83.3%), positive (71.4%) and negative (83.3%) predictive values of anti-Ro52 antibodies to determine ILD in CTD is detailed in this study. Conclusion. Ro52 autoantibodies are associated with ILD in CTD excluding scleroderma. We suggest that the presence of anti-Ro52 reactivity in CTD should increase the clinician curiosity for the search of ILD.
authors.affiliation: Unidade de Imunologia Clínica, Hospital de Santo António, Centro Hospitalar do Porto, 4099-001 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: João Pedro
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.forename: António
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marinho
authors.forename: Conceição
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cerveira
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vasconcelos