A Hospital-Based Insight into the Antinuclear Antibody Patterns in Autoimmune Disorders

Abstract

Background The incidence of autoimmune disorders has seen a rise in India in recent times. The symptoms and signs of these conditions are caused by a systemic autoimmune response, essentially characterized by the expression of the antinuclear antibodies (ANA). Presence of ANA in serum of patient could be the prime evidence of an autoimmune disorder. Aim This study aimed to determine the antibody patterns and assess the clinical significance of ANA in patients of a teaching tertiary care hospital of central India. Material and Methods This retrospective cross-sectional data analysis study retrieved 538 reports of individuals, who were prescribed the ANA test by indirect immunofluorescence assay over a period of 11 months, from the archives of the Department of Biochemistry. For continuous data, student t-test was used while Chi-square and Fisher exact was conducted for categorical data. A p value less than 0.05 were taken as significant. Results Out of the 538 patients investigated for ANA testing by indirect immunofluorescence assay, 33% were positive, among which 74% were female, and majority belonged to the young adult age group. The most common pattern identified was nuclear, subpattern nuclear speckled. Conclusion A high-ANA pattern positivity could be related to a high-autoimmunity prevalence in this region, and also promotes its use as a tool of evidence of suspected autoimmune disorders.

Keywords

• central india
• immunofluorescence assay
• nuclear