To assess the effect of oral contraceptives on antinuclear antibodies (ANAs), rheumatoid factor (RF), and C-reactive protein (CRP), 3 groups of women were studied: 1) 174 women (ages 16-47) from the time of their initial uses of oral contraceptives, 2) 119 women (ages 17-39) selected from the community at random, and 3) 210 women (ages 17-47) who had been taking oral contraceptives prior to an...

Background: Inappropriate inflammation is a key mechanism in the development of atherosclerosis. Antibodies against components of the atherosclerotic lesion, in particular, oxidised low density lipoprotein, have been described. Objective: To determine whether a systemic autoimmune response, characterised by the presence of high titres of antinuclear antibodies, is associated with the presence o...

Antinuclear antibodies (ANA) are primarily significant in the diagnosis of systemic connective tissue diseases. The relationship between their occurrence in allergic diseases is poorly documented. However, the mechanism of allergic and autoimmune diseases has a common thread. In both cases, an increased production of IgE antibodies and presence of ANA in selected disease entities is observed. E...

OBJECTIVES Our study analyses the prevalence of ANA, anti-SS-A, anti-SS-B, and ACA and ACPA antibodies in patients with pSS and with dryness symptoms without pSS confirmation, and the association of ACPA and ACA antibodies with specific clinical symptoms. MATERIALS AND METHODS 113 patients were divided into two groups: I - with diagnosed pSS (N = 75); and II - with dryness without pSS evidenc...

BACKGROUND Antinuclear antibody (ANA) tests are frequently used to screen children for chronic inflammatory diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, the diagnostic utility of this test is limited because of the large number of healthy children who have low-titer positive tests. We sought to determine the clinical utility of ANA tests in screening children for rheumatic dise...

BACKGROUND Potential associations between background environmental chemical exposures and autoimmunity are understudied. OBJECTIVES Our exploratory study investigated exposure to individual environmental chemicals and selected mixtures in relation to the presence of antinuclear antibodies (ANA), a widely used biomarker of autoimmunity, in a representative sample of the U.S. METHODS This cro...

OBJECTIVE To establish the abnormal title and the appropriate screening dilution for ANA (antinuclear antibodies) test by indirect immunofluorescence on HEp-2 cells (ANA HEp-2). METHODS An analysis of ANA Hep-2 in serum samples from 126 healthy individuals was performed. The samples were screened at a dilution of 1:80, and those positive were diluted to the title of 1:5120. The abnormal title...

BACKGROUND Anti-double stranded DNA (anti-dsDNA) autoantibodies are considered hallmark of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). METHODS To determine concordance between assays for the detection of this marker, we analyzed 100 antinuclear antibody (ANA) positive sera with a homogeneous pattern and titers≥1:160 by indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) on HEp-2 cells, 100 consecutive anti-dsDNA...

Automated interpretation (AI) systems for antinuclear antibody (ANA) analysis have been introduced based on assessment of indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) patterns. The diagnostic performance of a novel automated IIF reading system was compared with visual interpretation (VI) of IIF in daily clinical practice to evaluate the reduction of workload. ANA-IIF tests of consecutive serum samples fro...