Abstract
Two immunofluorescence procedures to evaluate antinuclear antibodies were compared in a series of 221 patients with chronic liver disorders of various aetiologies. The use of HEp-2 cells allowed us to discriminate with more confidence between the homogeneous and speckled patterns, to show the presence of associated patterns in the same serum, and, above all, to identify two specificities, unrecognizable on tissue sections. The anticentromere antibody was found in 10% of cases of primary biliary cirrhosis and occasionally in other conditions; the antibody staining multiple nuclear dots was strictly confined to primary biliary cirrhosis (17%). With the exception of autoimmune chronic active hepatitis the prevalence of antinuclear antibodies increased in all groups, particularly in primary biliary cirrhosis. Homogeneous antinuclear antibody was associated by both immunofluorescence procedures with autoimmune chronic active hepatitis. The multiple nuclear dot antinuclear antibody turned out to be an additional marker of primary biliary cirrhosis, helpful for the positive diagnosis of primary biliary cirrhosis in a proportion of cases negative for antimitochondrial antibody. Absorption experiments showed that multiple nuclear dot and antimitochondrial antibody are antigenically distinct. Moreover, multiple nuclear dot antinuclear antibody was associated with the finding of a dry Schirmer's test.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Berg P. A., Homberg J. C., Bottazzo G. F., Doniach D. Clinical significance of mitochondrial antibodies in relation to liver disease. Lancet. 1981 Oct 10;2(8250):804–804. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(81)90206-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Bernstein R. M., Callender M. E., Neuberger J. M., Hughes G. R., Williams R. Anticentromere antibody in primary biliary cirrhosis. Ann Rheum Dis. 1982 Dec;41(6):612–614. doi: 10.1136/ard.41.6.612. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Bernstein R. M., Neuberger J. M., Bunn C. C., Callender M. E., Hughes G. R., Williams R. Diversity of autoantibodies in primary biliary cirrhosis and chronic active hepatitis. Clin Exp Immunol. 1984 Mar;55(3):553–560. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Epstein O., Thomas H. C., Sherlock S. Primary biliary cirrhosis is a dry gland syndrome with features of chronic graft-versus-host disease. Lancet. 1980 May 31;1(8179):1166–1168. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(80)91621-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- James S. P., Hoofnagle J. H., Strober W., Jones E. A. NIH conference: Primary biliary cirrhosis: a model autoimmune disease. Ann Intern Med. 1983 Oct;99(4):500–512. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-99-4-500. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kurki P., Gripenberg M., Teppo A. M., Salaspuro M. Profiles of antinuclear antibodies in chronic active hepatitis, primary biliary cirrhosis and alcoholic liver disease. Liver. 1984 Apr;4(2):134–138. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0676.1984.tb00918.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- LOWRY O. H., ROSEBROUGH N. J., FARR A. L., RANDALL R. J. Protein measurement with the Folin phenol reagent. J Biol Chem. 1951 Nov;193(1):265–275. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Mackay I. R. Immunological aspects of chronic active hepatitis. Hepatology. 1983 Sep-Oct;3(5):724–728. doi: 10.1002/hep.1840030517. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Powell F., Schroeter A. L., Dickson E. R. Antinuclear antibodies in primary biliary cirrhosis. Lancet. 1984 Feb 4;1(8371):288–289. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(84)90164-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Sayers T. J., Binder T., Berg P. A. Heterogeneity of anti-mitochondrial antibodies: characterization and separation of the antigen associated with the pseudolupus erythematosus syndrome. Clin Exp Immunol. 1979 Jul;37(1):68–75. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Volta U., Ballardini G., Cassani F., Zauli D., Bianchi F. B., Pisi E. Hépatite chronique active avec anticorps antimicrosome de foie et de rein. Med Chir Dig. 1980;9(6):465–469. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]