@article {Dellavance2144, author = {Alessandra Dellavance and Vilma S T Viana and Elaine P Leon and Eloisa S D O Bonfa and Lu{\'\i}s E C Andrade and Paulo G Leser}, title = {The clinical spectrum of antinuclear antibodies associated with the nuclear dense fine speckled immunofluorescence pattern.}, volume = {32}, number = {11}, pages = {2144--2149}, year = {2005}, publisher = {The Journal of Rheumatology}, abstract = {OBJECTIVE: Autoantibodies to lens epithelium-derived growth factor (LEDGF) depict a distinctive nuclear dense fine speckled (DFS) pattern in the indirect immunofluorescence antinuclear antibody assay (IIF-ANA). Definition of the clinical spectrum associated with anti-LEDGF antibodies has been evolving over the last decade. We investigated the frequency, clinical spectrum, and immunologic specificity of the DFS pattern in a general clinical laboratory routine. METHODS. All serum samples entered for IIF-ANA determination within a 2 year period were examined for the DFS pattern. Positive samples with consistent clinical information were studied further by IIF with isotype-specific conjugate and immunoblot analysis. RESULTS: Among 13,641 ANA-positive samples, 5081 (37\%) presented the DFS pattern. Within a 6 month nested period, there were 650 samples with DFS pattern, and consistent clinical data were available for 81 of these. DFS reactivity was mainly due to IgG. Most samples (86\%) presented titer \> or = 1/640. Eighty of the 81 DFS samples reacted with a 75 kDa band that comigrated with the band elicited by the standard anti-LEDGF serum. Antibodies that were affinity-purified from the 75 kDa band reproduced the DFS pattern on IIF-ANA. The clinical spectrum associated with DFS reactivity included autoimmune diseases (39\%) and an array of nonautoimmune conditions (61\%). Among the autoimmune patients, over half presented evidence of autoimmune thyroiditis. CONCLUSION: Anti-LEDGF/p75 antibodies are a common finding among ANA-positive individuals with no evidence of rheumatic autoimmune disease, and should be regarded as a low specificity finding even when in moderate or high titer.}, issn = {0315-162X}, URL = {https://www.jrheum.org/content/32/11/2144}, eprint = {https://www.jrheum.org/content/32/11/2144.full.pdf}, journal = {The Journal of Rheumatology} }