© 1989 British Society for Rheumatology
brief-report |
PHOTOSENSITIVITY AND ANTI-RO (SS-A) ANTIBODIES IN BLACK PATIENTS WITH SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS (SLE)
Departments of Rheumatology and Immunology, University of the Witwatersrand 7 York Road, Parktown, 2193, South Africa Institute for Biostatistics of the South African Research Council
Correspondence to:
Correspondence to Dr. Sutej
Ninety-two patients with SLE, 36 black and 56 white, were studied prospectively for photosensitivity and anti-Ro (SS-A) and anti-La (SS-B) antibodies. Photosensitivity was found in 19% of black patients, compared to 71% of white patients (p = 0.001). Anti-Ro antibodies were found in 69% of black and 54% of white patients (p = 0.013). Photosensitivity was present in 87% of Ro-positive white patients and in 54% of Ro-negative white patients (p = 0.07). However, in black patients with SLE there was a strong negative association: 4% of Ro-positive patients were photosensitive while 55% of Ro-negatives were photosensitive (p = 0.001). This suggests that black SLE patients may possess a factor which blocks photosensitivity, perhaps by preventing local tissue damage caused by the interaction of Ro antibodies and ultraviolet light.
KEY WORDS: Race, Pigmentation, Anti-Ro, Anti-La, Ultraviolet light
*Current address: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 932 Faculty Laboratory Office Building 231H, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA.
![]()
CiteULike
Connotea
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
L M Vila, M J Molina, A M Mayor, R A Peredo, M L Santaella, and S Vila Clinical and prognostic value of autoantibodies in Puerto Ricans with systemic lupus erythematosus Lupus, December 1, 2006; 15(12): 892 - 898. [Abstract] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
S J Walsh and A Gilchrist Geographical clustering of mortality from systemic lupus erythematosus in the United States: contributions of poverty, Hispanic ethnicity and solar radiation Lupus, October 1, 2006; 15(10): 662 - 670. [Abstract] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
A. Doria, C. Biasinutto, A. Ghirardello, E. Sartori, R. Rondinone, A. Piccoli, C. Veller Fornasa, and P. Gambari Review : Photosensitivity in systemic lupus erythematosus: laboratory testing of ARA/ACR definition Lupus, August 1, 1996; 5(4): 263 - 268. [Abstract] [PDF] |
||||
