title: Frequency of dense fine speckled pattern in immunofluorescence screening test.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The presence of antinuclear antibodies (ANA), directed against intracellular antigens, is a distinctive feature of systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARDs). The standard test for antinuclear antibody screening is the indirect immunofluorescence (IIF). Anti-dense fine speckled 70 (anti-DFS70) antibodies were initially identified as an ANA IIF pattern from a patient with interstitial cystitis, but they were later associated with various other conditions. The objective of the study was to determine the frequency of anti-DFS70 antibodies in a cohort of patients undergoing routine ANA testing.
  
  
  METHODS
  From January 2011 to January 2012, a total of 5800 serum samples were screened for ANA by IIF (Euroimmune AG, Lübeck, Germany). DFS pattern was searched.
  
  
  RESULTS
  ANA were present in 1302 (22.4%) of all patients. There were 16 (1.2%) anti-DFS70 antibody-positive patients. The number of females and males who have anti-DFS70 antibody was eleven and five, respectively. All of the samples presented a titer of ≥1/320. There was one patient with SARD from the rheumatology department. Another 15 patients were from gastroenterology, endocrinology, and general internal medicine.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although a distinctive clinical association has not been reported, anti-DFS70 have been proposed as a significant biomarker for the exclusion of SARD. The present study is a preliminary study. There is a need for a reliable assay to ensure reactivity to DFS70 and screening large populations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, İzmir Katip Çelebi University Atatürk Training and Research Hospital, İzmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Aslı Gamze
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Şener
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, İzmir Katip Çelebi University Atatürk Training and Research Hospital, İzmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: İlhan
authors.initials: İ
authors.lastname: Afşar
keywords: Anti-DFS70 antibodies; antinuclear antibodies; immunofluorescence method