Muro Y et al. - Since pts with only anti-DFS70 antibody are rarely diagnosed as having autoimmune rheumatic disease, it is therefore very important to recognize the dense fine speckle patterns in anti-nuclear antibodies tests for analysis of laboratory results in rheumatology clinics. Methods
Aim was to investigate if anti-DFS70 antibody may be a marker of autoimmune rheumatic disease negativity
Presence of various disease-marker autoantibodies in anti-DFS70 antibody–positive pts with rheumatic disease were examined
Serum samples from 500 pts were examined for anti-DFS70 antibodies by indirect immunofluorescence and immunoblotting
Various disease-marker autoantibodies were measured by ELISA
Results
22 pts were positive for anti-DFS70 antibodies
18 pts also had disease-marker autoantibodies including anti–double stranded DNA, anti-cardiolipin, anti-SS-A, or other antibodies
In 1 patient with Sjögren’s syndrome and 2 pts with dermatomyositis, no disease-marker antibodies were found
However, 1 patient with dermatomyositis had a concomitant anti-cytoplasmic antibody
All 7 systemic lupus erythematosus pts fulfilled the classification criteria for this disease even if anti-nuclear antibody–positive findings were excluded
1 patient with morphea had high-titer anti–single stranded DNA antibody
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