Table 1.
Immunofluorescence patterns and titers of AIT test in SLE-CMV, SLE and CMV groups
| Titer | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patterns from AIT test | ≤1:20 | 1:40 | 1:80 | 1:160 | 1:320 | 1:640 | 1:1280 | ≥1:2560 | Total |
| SLE-CMV groupa | |||||||||
| Homogeneous | 2 | 9 | 11 | ||||||
| Homogeneous + speckled | 4 | 13 | 17 | ||||||
| Homogeneous + cytoplasmic | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| Homogeneous + diffuse granular | 4 | 4 | |||||||
| Homogeneous + speckled + cytoplasmic | 3 | 3 | |||||||
| Speckled | 1 | 8 | 9 | ||||||
| Speckled + cytoplasmic | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||
| Diffuse granular + cytoplasmic | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| Diffuse cytoplasmic + speckled | 3 | 3 | |||||||
| Diffuse cytoplasmic + diffuse granular | 2 | 2 | |||||||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 45 | 53 |
| SLE groupb | |||||||||
| Homogeneous | 1 | 2 | 15 | 18 | |||||
| Homogeneous + speckled | 2 | 3 | 33 | 38 | |||||
| Homogeneous + cytoplasmic | 2 | 2 | |||||||
| Homogeneous + diffuse granular | 1 | 12 | 13 | ||||||
| Homogeneous + speckled + cytoplasmic | 2 | 1 | 4 | 7 | |||||
| Speckled | 5 | 3 | 5 | 34 | 47 | ||||
| Speckled + cytoplasmic | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 | ||||
| Diffuse granular + cytoplasmic | 2 | 1 | 5 | 8 | |||||
| Diffuse granular | 1 | 5 | 7 | 13 | |||||
| Diffuse cytoplasmic + speckled | 9 | 9 | |||||||
| Diffuse cytoplasmic + diffuse granular | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||
| Diffuse cytoplasmic + nucleolar | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 10 | 22 | 126 | 170 |
| CMV groupc | |||||||||
| MTOC-MT | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | |||
| MTOC-MT + IF + speckled | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | ||||
| Speckled | 2 | 2 | |||||||
| Negative | 4 | 4 | |||||||
| Total | 4 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 22 |
aSLE-CMV group, anti-CMV IgM-positive SLE patients; bSLE group, anti-CMV IgM-negative SLE patients; cCMV group, anti-CMV IgM-positive patients without SLE. The AIT test was performed using an indirect immunofluorescent test kit (IT-AIT™; ImmunoThink Co., Seoul, Republic of Korea). In the CMV group, anti-MTOC-MT-positive patients accounted for 72.7% of the total patients in the CMV group and 88.9% of autoantibody-positive patients, but in the SLE-CMV group, anti-MTOC-MT was not detected at all (P < 0.001). Patients in the SLE-CMV group showed high titers of over 1:640 except for one who received steroid pulse therapy just before the test, but the proportion of patients in the CMV group with a titer over 1:640 was not more than 13.6% (P < 0.001). In addition, most of the autoantibody frequently found in the SLE-CMV group was not found in the CMV group. AIT, autoimmune target; CMV, cytomegalovirus; IF, intermediate filament; MTOC-MT, microtubule organizing center with microtubule; SLE, systemic lupus erythematosus.