Rheumatology Advance Access originally published online on September 16, 2003
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Rheumatology 2004; 43: 220-224
© British Society for Rheumatology 2003; all rights reserved
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Anti-nucleosome antibodies in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus of recent onset. Potential utility as a diagnostic tool and disease activity marker
Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, Tlalpan, México.
Correspondence to: J. Abraham Simón, Department of Immunology and Rheumatology, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, Vasco de Quiroga No. 15, Colonia Sección XVI, Tlalpan, México DF CP: 14000. E-mail: abrahamsimon{at}mailcity.com
Objective. To compare the utility of anti-chromatin antibodies for the diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and as markers of disease activity.
Methods. We included 73 consecutive patients (62 female) with SLE (four or more ACR criteria) of recent onset (<1 yr since diagnosis). As control groups we included 130 healthy blood donors and 261 patients with 11 systemic autoimmune diseases (SAD). Disease activity was assessed using the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI). A venous blood sample was drawn to measure three anti-chromatin antibodies [anti-nucleosome (anti-NCS), anti-double-stranded DNA (anti-dsDNA) and anti-histones (anti-HST)] by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Results. The prevalence of anti-chromatin antibodies in SLE patients and healthy controls was 100 and 3% respectively for anti-NCS, 63 and 5% for anti-dsDNA, and 15 and 3% for anti-HST. Anti-NCS had a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 97% for SLE diagnosis. When SLE and SAD patients were compared [excluding mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD)], the sensitivity of anti-NCS, anti-dsDNA and anti-HST antibodies for SLE diagnosis was 93, 71 and 40% respectively and the specificity was 97, 98 and 98%. Anti-chromatin antibodies were not useful in differentiating between SLE and MCTD patients. Anti-NCS antibodies showed the highest correlation with disease activity (r = 0.45, P < 0.0001), especially in patients negative for anti-dsDNA antibodies (r = 0.58, P = 0.001). Anti-NCS antibodies also showed strong association with renal damage (odds ratio 4.1, 95% confidence interval 1.2–13.6, P = 0.01).
Conclusion. Anti-NCS antibodies could be a useful tool in the diagnosis and assessment of disease activity in SLE patients, especially in patients who are negative for anti-dsDNA antibodies.
KEY WORDS: Anti-nucleosome antibodies, Anti-chromatin antibodies, Systemic lupus erythematosus, Diagnosis, Disease activity.
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