ANTICENTROMERE ANTIBODIES (ACA) - CLINICAL DISTRIBUTION AND DISEASE SPECIFICITY

Sera from 3528 patients with autoimmune disease, and non-autoimmune di sease, and 500 normal individuals were studied for the presence of ant icentromere antibodies (ACA) by indirect immunofluorescence on HEP2 ce lls. Sixty-seven specimens were identified showing discrete speckled s taining: 55 (82.1%), 11 (16.4%), and one (1.5%), were from patients wi th autoimmune disease, non-autoimmune disease and normal control subje cts, respectively. These ACA were present frequently in CREST syndrome (55%), Raynaud's disease (29.6%) and primary biliary cirrhosis (30%). Only 16.4% of the antibody positive patients carried a clinical diagn osis of CREST, which means that ACA are not specific for CREST syndrom e. High antibody titre persisted irrespective of whether or not the pa tients had active disease. The ACA were present infrequently in Sjogre n's syndrome, systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, immu ne thrombocytopenic purpura, Graves' disease, immune haemolytic anaemi a, and vitiligo. Sera from 107 patients with various other autoimmune diseases were negative for ACA.