Anti-DFS70 antibodies are more prevalent in UCTD and Asian SLE patients

Abstract

Objectives Anti-dense-fine-speckled 70 (anti-DFS70) autoantibodies were reported to occur frequently in antinuclear autoantibody (ANA) positive healthy individuals (HI), but have also been detected in patients with systemic autoimmune rheumatic disease (SARD), and the prevalence varies between different SARD types. This study aimed to detect the prevalence of anti-DFS70 in different SARD patients in China and study the geographical differences of it by meta-analysis.Methods Anti-DFS70 antibodies were detected in 113 HI and 541 SARD patients, including 163 systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 99 rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 93 undifferentiated connective tissue disease (UCTD), 82 Sjogren's syndrome (SS), 55 polymyositis/dermatomyositis (PM/DM), 31 systemic sclerosis (SSc) and 18 mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) patients by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Pooled odds ratios (OR) and corresponding confidence intervals (CI) of the comparison anti-DFS70 prevalence in disease and control group were calculated by meta-analysis.Results Anti-DFS70 was higher in SLE (20.2%, P = 0.004) and UCTD (12.9%, P = 0.02) than in HI (7.1%) in China. No statistical differences with HI in RA (11.1%, P = 0.31), PM/DM (10.9%, P = 0.4), SS (7.3%, P = 0.95), SSc (3.2%, P = 0.44) and MCTD (0%, P = 0.46). The meta-analysis showed higher anti-DFS70 in Asian SLE patients than in HI (OR = 2.32, 95%CI = 1.54–3.49, P < 0.0001), while no difference was observed between non-Asian SLE and HI (OR = 0.38, 95%CI = 0.14–1.07, P > 0.05). Anti-DFS70 prevalence was higher in UCTD patients than in HI (OR = 2.38, 95%CI = 1.36–4.15, P = 0.002) without regional variation (Asian: OR = 2.35, 95%CI = 1.13–4.88, P = 0.02; non-Asian: OR = 2.43, 95%CI = 1.06–5.57, P = 0.04).Conclusions The prevalence of anti-DFS70 antibody varies among SLE patients in Asia and non-Asia. Contrarily, anti-DFS70 prevalence in UCTD cohort is higher than in HI worldwide.