“…Besides the large variability in prevalence of different autoantibodies in patients with leprosy reported in the literature, there are few studies correlating the presence of autoantibodies to the articular manifestations in this disease 13. RF is reported as positive in 70–80% of patients with RA; however, its specificity is limited since RF is also detected in sera from healthy older individuals and patients with various other autoimmune and infectious diseases, including leprosy 8.…”