title: Antibodies against antigens related to scleroderma in a cohort of patients with morphea.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Morphea is a rare fibrosing skin disorder. Antinuclear antibodies (ANA), anti-histone and rheumatoid factor are detected in high rate of morphea cases. Scleroderma-related antibodies are usually absent.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-one adult patients affected by morphea were examined at the time of enrollment and after 6 months with the assessment of clinical outcome measures of disease severity and damage. Healthy subjects were considered as normal controls while patients affected by systemic sclerosis and other connective tissue diseases (CTD) were considered as pathological controls. Serum samples from all the patients and controls were analyzed for the detection of ANA, anti-nucleosome antibodies, anti-dsDNA and anti-extractable nuclear antigen. Scleroderma-related autoantibodies were searched using a line-blot test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We enrolled 21 patients affected by morphea. ANA were found in 12 patients (57%). Anti-DNA and anti-nucleosome antibodies were negative in all cases. Systemic sclerosis-specific antibodies were found in 11 morphea patients (52.4%) and one healthy control (6.25%). In patients affected by systemic sclerosis (100%) and different CTD (%), scleroderma-related autoantibodies were more frequently detected than in morphea (52.4%). In morphea, anti-TRIM21/Ro52 antibodies were found in 4 patients (36.4%) and resulted to be the most frequently detected antibodies also in two groups of SSC and CTD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The high prevalence of ANA and the identification of some antagonists of systemic sclerosis-related autoantibodies, confirm the idea of a significant activation of autoimmune system in morphea.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, ASST Spedali Civili di Brescia, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Mariachiara
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arisi
authors.affiliation: Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology Unit, Department of Medicine, ASST Spedali Civili di Brescia, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy - ilariacava@virgilio.it.
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Cavazzana
authors.affiliation: Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology Unit, Department of Medicine, ASST Spedali Civili di Brescia, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Cerutti
authors.affiliation: Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology Unit, Department of Medicine, ASST Spedali Civili di Brescia, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ferrari
authors.affiliation: Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology Unit, Department of Medicine, ASST Spedali Civili di Brescia, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Nice
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Carabellese
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, ASST Spedali Civili di Brescia, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.affiliation: Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology Unit, Department of Medicine, ASST Spedali Civili di Brescia, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tincani
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, ASST Spedali Civili di Brescia, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Piergiacomo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Calzavara-Pinton
authors.affiliation: Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology Unit, Department of Medicine, ASST Spedali Civili di Brescia, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Franceschini
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear / Q000097:blood*; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003240:Connective Tissue Diseases / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012594:Scleroderma, Localized / Q000276:immunology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear; D001323:Autoantibodies