Laboratory Medicine ›› 2024, Vol. 39 ›› Issue (6): 517-523.DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1673-8640.2024.06.001

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Determination results of serum ANA and relation with disease in 7 803 children

GAO Limei, GAO Xiupan, ZENG Junxiang, YU Youyou, PAN Xiujun()   

  1. Department of Clinical Laboratory,Xinhua Hospital,Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine,Shanghai 200092,China
  • Received:2023-03-18 Revised:2024-03-14 Online:2024-06-30 Published:2024-07-08

Abstract:

Objective To investigate the distribution characteristics and disease correlation of serum antinuclear antibody(ANA) in children. Methods A total of 7 803 hospitalized children in Xinhua Hospital of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine from January 2016 to November 2021 were enrolled. Serum ANA was determined by indirect immunofluorescence(IIF) and line immunoassay(LIA). According to the clinical diagnosis,the patients were classified into antinuclear antibody-associated rheumatic disease(AARD) group(296 cases),other rheumatic disease(ORD) group(2 314 cases),non-rheumatic disease(NRD) group(5 128 cases) and highly suspected AARD but undetermined(UD) group(65 cases). According to the ANA results,the patients were classified into 4 types of results,IIF-LIA-,IIF+LIA-,IIF-LIA+ and IIF+LIA+,in which IIF-LIA- was ANA negative,and the other 3 types of results were ANA positive. Results Among the 7 803 children,1 550(19.9%) cases were ANA positive. The positive rate of ANA in AARD group was the highest(81.8%),which was higher than those in ORD,NRD and UD groups(P<0.05). The determination rate of ANA double positive(IIF+LIA+) was the highest in AARD group(48.3%),and the diagnostic likelihood ratio of ANA double positive in AARD group was 27.03. The top 3 ANA in LIA positive samples were anti-SS-A antibody [33.2%(168/506)],anti-double-stranded DNA(dsDNA) antibody [24.1%(122/506)] and anti-histone antibody [18.0%(91/506)]. The 2 common ANA patterns in AARD group were speckled(41.9%) and homogeneous(30.7%),and high-titer ANA was the most. Receiver operating characteristic(ROC) curve results showed that the cut-off value of ANA titer was 1∶80,and the area under curve(AUC) was 0.870 2. The sensitivity was 71.3%,and the specificity was 93.5%. With the increase of ANA titers,the corresponding likelihood ratio was increased logarithmically. Conclusions Both IIF and LIA have their own advantages in the determination of ANA in children,and they are irreplaceable for each other. Double positive ANA and high titer of ANA have diagnostic value for AARD. The titer-specific likelihood ratios should be recommended as a reliable index to assess the authenticity of ANA assay.

Key words: Antinuclear antibody, Indirect immunofluorescence, Line immunoassay, Antinuclear antibody-associated rheumatic disease

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