Prevalence of antinuclear autoantibodies in the serum of normal blood dornors.

OBJECTIVE To examine the presence of serum antinuclear autoantibodies in a healthy population. METHODS Serum of 500 normal blood donors between 18 and 60 years of age were tested for the presence of autoantibodies. Antinuclear antibodies were detected by indirect immunofluorescence technique using HEp-2 epithelial cells as the substrate. The presence of dnaN was detected by indirect immunofluorescence technique using Critidia lucillae as the substrate. Anti-SSA (RO), anti-SSB (LA), anti-Sm, and anti-RNP were determined by double radial immunodiffusion. RESULTS In the evaluation of the presence of serum antibodies, antinuclear antibodies were detected in 22.6% of the sera. The presence of other antibodies was not significant. The majority of the titers were 1:40. CONCLUSION The presence of autoantibodies is not necessarily pathologic and has to be related to the age group, gender, and clinical condition of the patient.