SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS; CORRELATION OF AUTOANTIBODIES WITH CLINICAL MANIFESTATIONS

Abstract

Objective: To correlate positivity of autoantibodies with clinical manifestations of systemic lupus erythmatosus in Algerian population.

Methodology: This retrospective multicenter study was carried out on 203 Algerian patients with systemic lupus erythmatosus, diagnosed according to the American College of Rheumatology and SLICC criteria, from January 2006 to December 2019 in the University Hospital of ORAN region (EHUO) and the Abdelkader Hassani University Hospital of Sidi Bel Abbes region (CHU-SBA), west of Algeria. We assessed the clinical characteristics and the profile of the autoantibodies of these patients. The detection of antinuclear antibodies was carried out by indirect immunofluorescence technique, anti- DNAn and anticardiolipin antibodies by immunoenzymatic technique and nuclear anti-antigens extractable by immunodot.

Results: The mean age of onset of symptoms was 29.47 years and the sex ratio of female to male was 9.68. The frequency of most clinical manifestations was 75.9%; 71.4%; 71.9% for rheumatological, dermatological and haematological disorders respectively. Twenty-five percent of the cases had lupus nephropathy. The positivity of antinuclear antibody (ANA) was found in 94.8% of cases, anti-DNAn (66.1%), anti-Sm (32.7%), anti-RNP (21.8%), anti-SSA and anti-SSB (38.5 and 18.4%). A significant correlation was found between these autoantibodies and clinical manifestations of SLE (p value less than 0.05), in particular with anti-DNAn, anti-Sm, anti-RNP and anti-SSA.

Conclusion: Anti-DNAn and anti-Sm antibodies strongly correlate with clinical manifestations and lupus nephropathy. The high frequency of anti-SSA antibodies in the Algerian population gives them a significant predictive value for the diagnosis of SLE.