ANTINEUTROPHIL CYTOPLASMIC ANTIBODY IN PATIENTS WITH SYSTEMIC LUPUS-ERYTHEMATOSUS IS UNRELATED TO CLINICAL-FEATURES

To investigate the incidence, the specificity and clinical significanc e of positivity for serum anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) in 31 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), the indirect i mmunofluorescence (IIF) technique and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assa y (ELISA) were used to measure ANCA, Purified myeloperoxidase (MPO), l actoferrin (LF), cathepsin-G (CTG) and elastase (HLE) served as ANCA a ntigens for ELISA. Thirteen (42%) of the 31 SLE patients showed positi vity for perinuclear, but not cytoplasmic, ANCA by IIF. Five of 31 ser a were positive for MPO, 10 for LF, 1 for CTG and 0 for HLE by ELISA. Patients positive for ANCA had a higher score of SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI) than those without ANCA. There was no correlation bet s een ANCA positivity, clinical manifestations, or organic involvement, While the ANCA in patients with SLE reflected disease activity, it was unrelated to organic involvement.