02037nas a2200289   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001500055653001000070653000900080653002800089653001100117653001100128653001200139653000900151653001600160653000900176100001900185700002300204700002100227700002100248245009300269300001000362490000700372520135400379022001401733       1985                            d  c1985 Sep10aAdolescent10aAdult10aAged10aAntibodies, Antinuclear10aFemale10aHumans10aleprosy10aMale10aMiddle Aged10aSkin1 aLamas-Robles C1 aGonzalez-Mendoza A1 aPérez-Suárez G1 aMejia-Arreguin S00aUse of human skin to demonstrate antinuclear antibodies in lepromatous leprosy patients.  a373-70 v533 a<p>A common finding in the sera of leprosy patients is the presence of antinuclear antibodies (ANA), but their specificity for autologous antigens is unknown. The aim of this work was to investigate the reactivity of these ANA toward the cell nuclei of human skin. ANA were investigated in the sera of 35 patients with lepromatous leprosy by immunofluorescence reactions performed with sections of human skin biopsies (autologous from each patient and healthy human skin obtained from plastic surgery procedures), and compared with the results obtained when rat liver was used as substrate. ANA titer, immunofluorescence pattern, immunoglobulin classes (IgG and IgM) and complement-binding capability were also investigated. When human skin sections were used as substrates, 30 out of 35 patients (85.7%) gave positive ANA tests; most of them gave a 1:4 to 1:16 titer for IgG with an annular pattern and 1:4 for IgM with an annular or a granular pattern. ANA of 30 patients bound C1q and 14 bound C3. However, when rat liver sections were used as substrates only 9 out of 35 cases (27.1%) gave positive ANA tests. These results show that human skin sections are a better substrate to demonstrate the ANA present in the sera of patients with lepromatous leprosy. Their significance in the pathogenesis of tissue damage remains to be investigated.</p>  a0148-916X