National Institute of Rheumatology and Physiotherapy, H-1525, Budapest, Hungary.
Autoimmunity. 2009 Aug;42(5):393-8. doi: 10.1080/08916930903002446.
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is characterized by the presence of antinuclear antibodies (ANA). ANAs are aimed against native DNA, as well as histone proteins and small nuclear ribonucleoproteins, also could be targeted against the entire chromatin, consisted of nucleosomes. Herein, we assessed the frequency and the concentration of anti-nucleosome antibodies (aNS) in a group of 107 Hungarian patients with SLE. Moreover, correlations between these autoantibody concentrations and disease activity, as well as organ manifestations, mainly renal symptoms were evaluated. The occurrence of positive aNS, anti-dsDNA and anti-histone (aH) antibodies were 39.2, 28.0 and 47.6%, respectively. All the three autoantibodies were represented with significantly higher titers in patients with lupus nephritis. A positive correlation was found between the concentration of these autoantibodies and disease activity. The long disease duration (mean 8.5 years) and consequent low disease activity (mean disease activity index: 3.28) could be the reason for the relatively low occurrence of ANAs amongst patients. Besides anti-dsDNA, the assessment of aNS and aH antibodies could be useful in the diagnosis and follow-up of SLE. The authors discuss the possible role of aNS autoantibodies in the pathogenesis of lupus nephritis.
系统性红斑狼疮（SLE）的特征是存在抗核抗体（ANA）。ANA 针对的是天然 DNA 以及组蛋白蛋白和小核核糖核蛋白，也可能针对整个染色质，由核小体组成。在此，我们评估了 107 名匈牙利 SLE 患者组中抗核小体抗体（aNS）的频率和浓度。此外，还评估了这些自身抗体浓度与疾病活动度以及器官表现（主要是肾脏症状）之间的相关性。阳性 aNS、抗 dsDNA 和抗组蛋白（aH）抗体的发生率分别为 39.2%、28.0%和 47.6%。所有这三种自身抗体在狼疮肾炎患者中的滴度均明显升高。这些自身抗体的浓度与疾病活动度呈正相关。较长的疾病病程（平均 8.5 年）和随后的低疾病活动度（平均疾病活动指数：3.28）可能是患者中 ANA 相对较低发生率的原因。除了抗 dsDNA 外，评估 aNS 和 aH 抗体在 SLE 的诊断和随访中可能有用。作者讨论了 aNS 自身抗体在狼疮肾炎发病机制中的可能作用。
