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Arthritis Research & Therapy
Published in: Arthritis Research & Therapy 1/2017

Open Access 01-12-2017 | Research article

Presence of an interferon signature in individuals who are anti-nuclear antibody positive lacking a systemic autoimmune rheumatic disease diagnosis

Authors: Joan Wither, Sindhu R. Johnson, Tony Liu, Babak Noamani, Dennisse Bonilla, Larissa Lisnevskaia, Earl Silverman, Arthur Bookman, Carolina Landolt-Marticorena

Published in: Arthritis Research & Therapy | Issue 1/2017

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Abstract

Background

Elevated levels of type I interferons (IFNs) are a characteristic feature of the systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARDs) and are thought to play an important pathogenic role. However, it is unknown whether these elevations are seen in anti-nuclear antibody–positive (ANA+) individuals who lack sufficient criteria for a SARD diagnosis. We examined IFN-induced gene expression in asymptomatic ANA+ individuals and patients with undifferentiated connective tissue disease (UCTD) to address this question.

Methods

Healthy ANA− control subjects and ANA+ titre (≥1:160 by immunofluorescence) participants meeting no criteria, meeting at least one criterion (UCTD) or meeting SARD classification criteria were recruited. Whole peripheral blood IFN-induced and BAFF gene expression were quantified using NanoString technology. The normalized levels of five IFN-induced genes were summed to produce an IFN5 score.

Results

The mean IFN5 scores were increased in all ANA+ participant subsets as compared with healthy control subjects. We found that 36.8% of asymptomatic ANA+ and 50% of UCTD participants had IFN5 scores >2 SD above the mean for healthy control subjects. In all ANA+ subsets, the IFN5 score correlated with the presence of anti-Ro/La antibodies. In the asymptomatic ANA+ subset, this score also correlated with the ANA titre, whereas in the other ANA+ subsets, it correlated with the number of different ANA specificities. Development of new SARD criteria was seen in individuals with normal and high IFN5 scores.

Conclusions

An IFN signature is seen in a significant proportion of ANA+ individuals and appears to be associated with ANA titre and type of autoantibodies, rather than with the presence or development of clinical SARD symptoms.
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Metadata
Title
Presence of an interferon signature in individuals who are anti-nuclear antibody positive lacking a systemic autoimmune rheumatic disease diagnosis
Authors
Joan Wither
Sindhu R. Johnson
Tony Liu
Babak Noamani
Dennisse Bonilla
Larissa Lisnevskaia
Earl Silverman
Arthur Bookman
Carolina Landolt-Marticorena
Publication date
01-12-2017
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Arthritis Research & Therapy / Issue 1/2017
Electronic ISSN: 1478-6362
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13075-017-1243-y

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