European Journal of Rheumatology
Original Article

Frequency of dense fine speckled pattern in immunofluorescence screening test

1.

Department of Medical Microbiology, İzmir Katip Çelebi University Atatürk Training and Research Hospital, İzmir, Turkey

Eur J Rheumatol 2015; 2: 103-105
DOI: 10.5152/eurjrheum.2015.0003
Read: 3008 Downloads: 1172 Published: 03 September 2019

Abstract

Objective: The presence of antinuclear antibodies (ANA), directed against intracellular antigens, is a distinctive feature of systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARDs). The standard test for antinuclear antibody screening is the indirect immunofluorescence (IIF). Anti-dense fine speckled 70 (anti-DFS70) antibodies were initially identified as an ANA IIF pattern from a patient with interstitial cystitis, but they were later associated with various other conditions. The objective of the study was to determine the frequency of anti-DFS70 antibodies in a cohort of patients undergoing routine ANA testing.

 

Material and Methods: From January 2011 to January 2012, a total of 5800 serum samples were screened for ANA by IIF (Euroimmune AG, Lübeck, Germany). DFS pattern was searched.

 

Results: ANA were present in 1302 (22.4%) of all patients. There were 16 (1.2%) anti-DFS70 antibody-positive patients. The number of females and males who have anti-DFS70 antibody was eleven and five, respectively. All of the samples presented a titer of ≥1/320. There was one patient with SARD from the rheumatology department. Another 15 patients were from gastroenterology, endocrinology, and general internal medicine.

 

Conclusion: Although a distinctive clinical association has not been reported, anti-DFS70 have been proposed as a significant biomarker for the exclusion of SARD. The present study is a preliminary study. There is a need for a reliable assay to ensure reactivity to DFS70 and screening large populations.

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EISSN 2148-4279