RESEARCH - Clinical significance of anti-Ro/SSA-52 kDa antibodies - a restrospective monocentric study

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Rheumatology Advance Access published online on June 16, 2009

Rheumatology, doi:10.1093/rheumatology/kep145

Clinical significance of anti-Ro/SSA-52 kDa antibodies - a

restrospective monocentric study

Baptiste Hervier1, Marie Rimbert2, Francoise Colonna2, Mohammed A.

Hamidou1 and Marie Audrain2

1Internal Medicine Department and 2Laboratory of Immunology, CHU

NANTES, NANTES cedex, France.

Abstract

Objectives. Two types of anti-Ro/SSA antibodies have been described,

anti-SSA-52 kDa (aSSA52) and anti-SSA-60 kDa (aSSA60), each specific

to different antigens. However, conflicting data exist concerning the

involvement of the aSSA52 in autoimmune diseases (ADs). We therefore

determined the clinical significance of these antibodies in patients

displaying aSSA52, but not aSSA60.

Methods. The 2005–08 retrospective monocentric study: all patients

positive for aSSA60 and/or aSSA52 antibodies were investigated.

Results. Among 297 patients, 82 were aSSA52 positive and aSSA60

negative. There were 21 males and 61 females. Forty-eight (58.5%)

patients met our criteria for an AD. Two groups were distinguished

according to the association (Group 1) or not (Group 2) of the aSSA52

with other autoantibodies. In Group 1, 33 out of 34 patients suffered

from an AD. The two most common being SLE and SSc. The prevalence of

AD was lower in Group 2 (15 out of 48, 31.3%, P = 0.001). aSSA52

levels were similar in patients with or without AD.

Conclusions. The existence of aSSA52 in association with other

antibodies did not predict the presence of AD. There was no evidence

to suggest that aSSA52 antibodies were associated with a specific

clinical form of SLE or SSc. In the absence of other autoantibodies,

aSSA52 was less associated with the presence of an AD. A positive

aSSA52 test is of low diagnostic value for AD. Nevertheless, a

longitudinal prospective follow-up study would determine whether or

not persistence of these autoantibodies was of use in diagnosing AD.

http://rheumatology.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/kep145v1?papetoc

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