The incidence, titers, and types of antinuclear antibodies in the sera of 437 selected patients attending a skin clinic have been investigated with an immunofluorescence test.
The connective tissue diseases can be divided into two groups: those disorders, such as lupus erythematosus and systemic sclerosis, in which antinuclear antibodies are frequently found in high titer, and those, such as polyarteritis nodosa, various types of cutaneous vasculitis, and dermatomyositis, in which antinuclear antibodies are usually absent. This division suggests that each group may have a different etiology.
With the unfixed rat liver immunofluorescence test, the presence of high titer (> 1/64) antinuclear antibodies is of value in the differential diagnosis of the connective tissue diseases in patients with overt disease.