Autoimmune diseases

Systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjogren's syndrome, mixed connective tissue disease, inflammatory myopathies, Raynaud's syndrome are common autoimmune diseases.

For the diagnosis of autoimmune diseases, the determination of antinuclear antibodies today remains one of the most accurate tests in clinics around the world.

Antinuclear antibodies are a group of antibodies that react with various components of a cell.

What is the definition of antinuclear antibodies used for?

• Prognosis of the development of systemic autoimmune diseases at an early stage, when there are no obvious signs of the disease

• Diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus, drug-induced lupus, systemic scleroderma, Sjogren's syndrome, mixed connective tissue disease, autoimmune hepatitis, inflammatory myopathies, etc.

• Evaluation of the activity, prognosis and effectiveness of treatment of systemic autoimmune diseases

How does the research work?

The first stage for the determination of antinuclear antibodies is the most sensitive method – indirect immunofluorescence reaction (NRIF). When using this method, antinuclear antibodies are called antinuclear factor (ANF). As a result of the study, the titer is indicated (the maximum dilution of the serum sample when antibody activity is detected) and the glow type of ANF. It is the nature of the glow that indicates the presence of certain antibodies specific to various autoimmune diseases.

Scheme of indirect immunofluorescence reaction

Our center uses the latest nomenclature of the International Consensus on antinuclear antibody patterns, which includes 29 types of luminescence, to interpret the results.

Characteristics of the most frequent types of glow

Glow Type	Diseases
Nuclear glow
Homogeneous	Systemic lupus erythematosus, drug-induced lupus/vasculitis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis
Large speckled	Systemic lupus erythematosus, mixed connective tissue disease, Raynaud's syndrome, systemic scleroderma, Sjogren's syndrome, undifferentiated connective tissue disease
Small speckled	Systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjogren's syndrome, mixed connective tissue disease, inflammatory myopathies
Centromeric	Systemic scleroderma (limited form), Raynaud's syndrome
Nucleolar	Systemic scleroderma, Raynaud's syndrome, inflammatory myopathies, cross syndrome
Cytoplasmic
Small speckled	Systemic lupus erythematosus, inflammatory myopathies, primary biliary cholangitis

If the result of this study is positive, then additional tests are performed to detect specific antibodies using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and an immunoblot.