Abstract

KOKUINA, Elena; SANCHEZ BASULTO, Milton; ARIAS PRIETO, Ana María  and  GUERREIRO HERNANDEZ, Ana María. Anticuerpos anticitoplasma del neutrófilo en la clasificación de las vasculitis sistémicas. Rev cubana med [online]. 2003, vol.42, n.6, pp. 0-0. ISSN 1561-302X.

The detection of the antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) is the immunological diagnosis of the systematic vasculitis. This paper was aimed at proving the clinical usefulness of the indirect immunofluorescence method (IIF) on extensions of washed peripheral blood cells for the detection of ANCA. 103 serum samples over extensions of washed peripheral blood cells were classified as negative or positive for ANCA by the IIF method on neutrophils isolated with dextran. The reactivity of these autoantibodies was determined in patients with vasculitis of small vessels associated with ANCA (ASVV, n = 19), in vasculitis of small vessels non associated with ANCA (noASVV, n = 59), in vasculitis secondary to rheumatic diseases (RV, n = 21) and in sound individuals (SI, n = 131). It was found that the sensitivity and specificity of the extensions of washed peripheral blood cells to detect ANCA was 96 % (for both). ANCA were observed in 79 % of the patients with ASVV and in 19 % of the patients with RV, whereas those with noASVV and the SI did not present ANCA. To conclude, the IIF method on extensions of washed peripheral blood cells has shown an elevated sensitivity and specificity to detect ANCA, which allows its application to medical clinic for studying systemic vasculitis.

Keywords : ANTIBODIES, ANTINEUTROPHIL CYTOPLASMIC; VASCULITIS [diagnosis]; FLUORESCENT ANTIBODY TECHNIQUE, INDIRECT.