PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - P Youinou
AU  - P Le Goff
AU  - C B Colaco
AU  - J Thivolet
AU  - D Tater
AU  - J Viac
AU  - M Shipley
TI  - Antikeratin antibodies in serum and synovial fluid show specificity for rheumatoid arthritis in a study of connective tissue diseases.
AID  - 10.1136/ard.44.7.450
DP  - 1985 Jul 01
TA  - Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
PG  - 450--454
VI  - 44
IP  - 7
4099  - http://ard.bmj.com/content/44/7/450.short
4100  - http://ard.bmj.com/content/44/7/450.full
SO  - Ann Rheum Dis1985 Jul 01; 44
AB  - Tests for antikeratin antibodies (AKA) were performed on 2152 disease-associated and control sera by indirect immunofluorescence (IF) on rat oesophagus substrate. The incidence of AKA was significantly raised in rheumatoid arthritis (37%) in comparison with systemic sclerosis (8%), psoriasis (7%), ankylosing spondylitis (6%), systemic lupus erythematosus (3%), and normal controls (2%). AKA were detected in synovial fluid obtained from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (48%) but not from patients with other conditions. Further experiments on AKA-positive sera showed reactivity with stratum corneum of rabbit prepuce and lips. A specific rabbit antihuman keratin antiserum was shown, by IF and inhibition studies, to have a different specificity from that of spontaneous human AKA. AKA were associated with the presence of subcutaneous nodules in RA (p = 0.05), but not with Raynaud's phenomenon, Sjögren's syndrome, or HLA-DR4 positivity. Rheumatoid factor (RF) was not associated with AKA either in RA or in RF-positive disease controls.