Anti-SSA/Ro52 autoantibodies in scleroderma: results of an observational, cross-sectional study.
OBJECTIVE
To date, the diagnostic utility of anti-SSA/Ro52 autoantibodies in scleroderma and the association of them with certain clinical manifestations, particularly inflammatory myositis, are still controversial. This paper aims to assess the correlation between the presence of anti-SSA/Ro52 antibodies and the demographic, clinical and prognosis characteristics of patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc).


METHODS
This is a retrospective, cross-sectional and observational study in patients with SSc. Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics were recorded. Presence of anti-SSA/Ro52, anti-SSA/Ro, anti-SSB/La, snRNP/Sm, anti-centromere, anti-Scl-70 and anti-PM-Scl were analysed by immunoblot, and antinuclear antibodies (ANA) by indirect immunofluorescence. Statistical analysis was performed with PASW Statics 18 software.


RESULTS
A total of 132 consecutive patients with analysis of anti-SSA/Ro52 antibodies were selected from a Spanish cohort of 408 patients with SSc, 87.1% of them being women. About half of patients had the limited form (51.5%), followed by diffused form (18.9%), sclerosis sine scleroderma (22.7%), and pre-scleroderma (6.8%). Prevalence of anti-SSA/Ro52 was 35.6%. No association between anti-SSA/Ro52 and clinical manifestations was found, while detection of anti-SSA/Ro52 was significantly associated with the presence of anti-Ro.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of our study show that anti-SSA/Ro52 antibodies are often found in SSc patients. No clinical manifestations, including inflammatory myopathy, were related with anti-SSA/Ro antibodies.
Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Universitario Vall d´Hebron, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. adsanche@vhebron.net.
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A
Sánchez-Montalvá
A
A
Fernández-Luque
C P
CP
Simeón
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V
Fonollosa-Plà
A
A
Marín
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A
Guillén
M
M
Vilardell
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear / Q000276:immunology*; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000276:immunology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004264:DNA Topoisomerases, Type I; D005095:Exoribonucleases / Q000276:immunology; D063326:Exosome Multienzyme Ribonuclease Complex / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012261:Ribonucleoproteins / Q000276:immunology; D017411:Ribonucleoproteins, Small Nuclear / Q000276:immunology; D012595:Scleroderma, Systemic / Q000276:immunology*; D013030:Spain; D000099207:SS-A Antigen
D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear; D001323:Autoantibodies; D004264:DNA Topoisomerases, Type I; D005095:Exoribonucleases; D063326:Exosome Multienzyme Ribonuclease Complex; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D012261:Ribonucleoproteins; D017411:Ribonucleoproteins, Small Nuclear; D000099207:SS-A Antigen; C035356:SS-A antibodies; C035357:SS-B antibodies; C048100:Scl 70 antigen, human; C538950:anticentromere antibody; C077044:EXOSC10 protein, human