Anti-nuclear antibodies
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In medicine, anti-nuclear antibodies are "autoantibodies directed against various nuclear antigens including DNA, RNA, histones, acidic nuclear proteins, or complexes of these molecular elements. Antinuclear antibodies are found in systemic autoimmune diseases including systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjogren's syndrome, scleroderma, polymyositis, and mixed connective tissue disease.[1]
A first and indirect measurement of these antibodies was the 1940-vintage lupus cell preparation, a microscopic procedure no longer used. They include:[2]
- Total anti-nuclear antibiody (ANA) titer, while not specific, when high suggests an autoimmune disease is present; it does not, however, exclude them. High values then justify more specific tests
- Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA)
- Anti-single-stranded DNA (ssDNA)
- Anti-double-stranded DNA (dsDNA)
- Antihistone antibodies
- Anti-centromere antibodies
- Anti-Smith (anti-Sm)
- Anti-ribonucleoprotein antibodies (anti-RNP)
- Antiphospholipid antibodies
References
- ↑ Anonymous (2024), Anti-nuclear antibodies (English). Medical Subject Headings. U.S. National Library of Medicine.
- ↑ Peter H. Schur and Rober H. Scherling (2004), Chapter 5: Laboratory tests in rheumatic disorders, Practical Rheumatology (Third ed.), Mosby, ISBN 03230299396