PREVALENCE AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE OF 52-KDA AND 60-KDA RO SS-A AUTOANTIBODIES IN JAPANESE PATIENTS WITH SYSTEMIC-SCLEROSIS/

Objective-To determine the prevalence of 52-Kda and 60-Kda Ro/SS-A aut oantibodies in serum samples from Japanese patients with systemic scle rosis (SSc). Methods-Serum samples from 263 Japanese patients with SSc were examined by double immunodiffusion and enzyme linked immunosorbe nt assay (ELISA). Results-By double immunodiffusion, 29 serum samples from patients with SSc were found to possess anti-Ro/SS-A antibodies. By ELISA, 31 serum samples were positive for anti-Ro52 and/or anti-Ro6 0. Of 27 serum samples that were positive by both methods, 15 reacted with both Ro52 and Ro60, five with Ro52 alone, and seven with Ro60 alo ne. Eleven of 12 patients with both anti-Ro52 and anti-Ro60 and all fi ve patients with anti-Ro52 alone had Sjogren's syndrome, while only on e of six patients with anti-Ro60 alone had this disorder. Conclusions- Anti-Ro52 may be a serological marker for the presence of Sjogren's sy ndrome in anti-Ro/SS-A-positive patients with SSc.