SURVIVAL IMPACT OF AUTOANTIBODIES IN SYSTEMIC LUPUS-ERYTHEMATOSUS

Objective. To determine the frequency, the clinical and laboratory ass ociations, and the impact on survival of anti-dsDNA, anti-Sm, anti-nRN P, anti-Re, and anti-La in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods. The clinical and laboratory features of 94 patients wi th SLE tested for anti-dsDNA, antin-RNP, anti-Sm, anti-Iio and anti-La were studied. Survival analyses were performed by the Kaplan Meier me thod. Results. Anti-Re, anti-nRNP and anti-Sm were found with lower fr equency in our patients compared to other reports. There was a higher frequency of anti-Sm (19.5 vs 10%, p = 0.0093) and antin-RNP positivit y (29.2 vs 7.5%, p = 0.006) among African American patients compared t o Caucasian patients. No clinical or laboratory associations were foun d with any of the autoantibodies. Patients had a mean followup up 11.8 years. There were no protective or negative effects of the different autoantibodies on the probability of survival of the patients studied. Conclusion. Our study failed to demonstrate the impact of the autoant ibodies studied in the survival of our patients.