title: Specificity of anti-SSB as a diagnostic marker for the classification of systemic lupus erythematosus.
abstract: The aim of the present study was to investigate the sensitivity and specificity of anti-Sjögren's syndrome type B (SSB) antibodies for diagnosing systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and to understand the correlation between anti-SSB antibodies and the clinical manifestations of SLE. A line immunoassay (LIA) was used to detect the presence of serum anti-SSB antibodies in SLE patients. The clinical manifestations of the patients were recorded to enable their correlation with the serum anti-SSB antibodies to be analyzed. In 25.7% of the 74 SLE patients, the serum was positive for anti-SSB antibodies, whereas only 3.3% of the 30 control cases were positive. The specificity of anti-SSB antibodies for detecting SLE was 96.7%. In anti-SSB antibody-positive SLE patients, the incidence of cheek erythema, alopecia, serositis, secondary Sjögren's syndrome (sSS), leukocytopenia, elevated immunoglobulin (Ig)G and positive presence of anti-Sjögren's syndrome type A (SSA)60 or anti-SSA52 antibodies was higher than in the anti-SSB antibody-negative group (P<0.05). Anti-SSB antibodies are important for the diagnosis of SLE and are associated with cheek erythema, alopecia, serositis, sSS, leukocytopenia, the elevation of IgG and positive presence of anti-SSA60 or anti-SSA52 antibodies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, Worker's Hospital of Tangshan, Tangshan, Hebei 063000;
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.forename: Guiyan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Chunfen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yajuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Zhiguo
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Zijiao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Shengquan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.forename: Xianming
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
keywords: anti-Sjögren’s syndrome type B antibody; linear immunoblot assay; systemic lupus erythematosus