Determination of DNA antibodies in normal and pathological sera by a new counterimmunoelectrophoresis method.

A quantitative counter-immunoelectrophoresis technique has been applied to the evaluation of antibodies against native and single-stranded DNA. Anti-DNA antibodies have been found at high dilutions in patients with systematic lupus erythematosus, without correlation with the existence of renal lesions or with the degree of DNA binding assessed by Farr assay. Significant precipitates were also observed at significantly lower dilutions in other pathological situations and in normal subjects, posing the problem of the nature of the precipitates in these cases.