Prevalence and serological profile of anti-DFS70 positive subjects from a routine ANA cohort

Sci Rep. 2019 Feb 18;9(1):2177. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-38686-5.

Abstract

Anti-Dense Fine Speckled 70 (DFS70) antibodies are a common finding in clinical laboratory referrals. High prevalence of DFS70 autoantibodies in healthy population and usual negative association with Antinuclear Antibody (ANA)-associated autoimmune rheumatic diseases (AARD) were reported. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of DFS70 autoantibodies and their association with other autoantibodies in the context of a routine ANA referral cohort. Consecutive sera submitted for ANA screening were analyzed for anti-DFS70 antibodies by indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) (n = 3175, 1030 men and 2145 women) then confirmed by immunoblotting. Anti-DFS70 positive samples were also assayed for a large spectrum of other circulating autoantibodies. The prevalence of anti-DFS70 antibodies was 1.7% in the whole population and 4.6% in the ANA-positive samples. Comparison between DFS70 IIF and immunoblotting showed an excellent correlation between the two methods. The prevalence of anti-DFS70 positive was significantly higher in females (2.1%, 45/2145) than in males (1.0%, 10/1030). Of note, no concomitant autoantibodies were found in the DFS70-positive male group compared with DFS70-positive females group that showed other serum autoantibodies in the 51% of cases. Anti-DFS70 reactivity in male population may represent an useful biomarker predicting the absence of other autoantibodies. On the contrary, the serological profile of DFS70-positive females required further investigations in order to define the presence of concomitant disease-marker autoantibodies.

MeSH terms

  • Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing / immunology*
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Antibodies, Antinuclear / blood*
  • Antibody Specificity
  • Autoantibodies / blood*
  • Autoimmune Diseases / blood
  • Autoimmune Diseases / immunology
  • Biomarkers / blood
  • Cohort Studies
  • Female
  • Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect
  • Healthy Volunteers
  • Humans
  • Immunoblotting
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Phenotype
  • Prevalence
  • Rheumatic Diseases / blood
  • Rheumatic Diseases / immunology
  • Seroepidemiologic Studies
  • Transcription Factors / immunology*

Substances

  • Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing
  • Antibodies, Antinuclear
  • Autoantibodies
  • Biomarkers
  • PSIP1 protein, human
  • Transcription Factors