[New technic for detecting anti-double-stranded DNA antibodies. Value in disseminated lupus erythematosus in children].

Two assays for antibodies to double stranded (ds) DNA were compared in children with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). An indirect immunofluorescent test using Crithidia luciliae (IF-CL) was more specific but slightly less sensitive than the DNA binding assay (RIA). Detection of antibodies to ds-DNA (anti-ds-DNA) by IF on 3 different trypanosoma (T. brusei, T. equiperdum, and T. musculi) was as specific and as sensitive as IF-CL, but more difficult to read microscopically. No correlation was found between immunoglobulin (Ig) class of circulating anti-ds-DNA and severity of renal disease in SLE. A comparison of serologic and immunohistopathologic (kidney and skin) data in 12 children with SLE showed that immune-complex glomerulonephritis was more frequently encountered when anti-ds-DNA was detected in serum, and that Ig deposits were found only in the skin when anti-ds-DNA could not be detected in serum.