Properties of Uncommon Indirect Immunofluorescence Staining Patterns Determined during Antinuclear Antibody Detection on HEp-2 Cells

Scientific paper - Original scientific paper

• Author: Nada Tomić Sremec
• Author: Ana Kozmar
• Author: Josip Sremec
• Author: Branimir Anić
• Author: Drago Batinić
• Author's institution: University of Zagreb; School of Medicine; (Department of Internal Medicine)
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: BIOMEDICINE AND HEALTHCARE; Basic Medical Sciences; Human Physiology
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: BIOMEDICINE AND HEALTHCARE; Clinical Medical Sciences; Internal Medicine

Abstract (english)

In this study, we aimed to assess the prevalence of uncommon staining patterns found during testing for the presence of antinuclear antibodies (ANA) and to determine their association with certain antibodies and clinical diagnoses. Presence of ANA and the staining pattern was determined in 10955 samples using indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) on HEp-2 cells. ANA-positive samples were assessed for presence of 14 specific antibody types using a microbead based system. Demographic data (age, sex) and clinical diagnoses were collected from the referral documentation. Particular staining patterns were then compared with a representative comparison group comprised of samples with common staining patterns using these criteria. There were 22 patterns present in less than 3% of samples each and these were jointly present in 42.43% of ANA-positive samples. Specific antibodies were found in proportions similar to the comparison group (46.06%) and varied significantly between patterns. Likewise, there were significant differences in antibody distribution in particular patterns. Some patterns were associated with presence of rheumatic diseases or inflammatory arthropathies, while in others there was a concurrent diagnosis of liver disease, or a neoplastic process. Many of the uncommon IIF patterns have distinctive characteristics that warrant further investigation in order to determine their role in diagnosing various diseases, not limited only to the illnesses of the rheumatic spectrum. IIF on HEp-2 cells remains an irreplaceable method because of the diversity of ANA, only a number of which can be detected using other standardised methods.

• Keywords (english): HEp-2; antinuclear antibodies; autoimmunity; indirect immunofluorescence
• Language: english
• Publication type: Scientific paper - Original scientific paper
• Publication status: Published
• Peer review: Peer review
• Publication version: Published version
• Journal title: Journal of Clinical Medicine
• Numbering: vol. 10, no. 17, 3866
• e-ISSN: 2077-0383
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm10173866
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:105:603026
• Publication: 2021-08-28
• Document URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/10/17/3866
• Type of resource: Text
• Access conditions: Open access
• Created on: 2022-05-09 08:58:49