Resumo

KOKUINA, Elena et al. Diagnostic antibodies in systemic and organ-specific autoimmune diseases. Rev cubana med [online]. 2006, vol.45, n.2. ISSN 0034-7523.

The detection of autoantibodies is a basic diagnostic tool of autoimmune diseases. The adequate use of autoantibody detection depends on the knowledge of the limitations of the technology applied in every laboratory. This study was designed to define the diagnostic value of the determinations of the autoantibodies in systemic and organ-specific autoimmune diseases. 343 patients with systemic and organ-specific autoimmune diseases were studied to detect the presence of circulating autoantibodies as immunological markers of every disease by indirect immunofluorescence, immunoenzimatic assay and latex agglutination. It was found that the sensitivity and specificity of the different antinuclear specificities in the systemic autoimmune diseases ranged from 15 to 100 %; and from 98 to 43 %, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of the organ -specific antibodies in the corresponding autoimmune diseases varied from 94 to 20 %; and from 100 to 65 %, respectively. The presence of antibodies was not associated with the sex, or race of the patients. It was concluded that this study of the diagnostic value of the different autoantibodies was variable and that in any of them absolute sensitivity was combined with absolute specificity.

Palavras-chave : Antinuclear autoantibodies; systemic rheumatic autoimmune diseases; antithyroid autoantibodies; thyroid autoimmune diseases; parietal anticellular antibodies; anti-smooth muscle antibodies; antimitochondrial antibodies; gastrointestinal autoimmune diseases.