Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies in leprosy

Abstract

Anti-Neutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibodies (ANCA) are auto-antibodies directed to intracellular components of neutrophils and used to be considered as present almost exclusively in granulomatous vasculitis. Recently, these auto-antibodies have been found in other autoimmune disorders as well as infectious diseases. We studied patients with leprosy confirmed by bacilloscopy and/or skin biopsy, in reaction phase from the Ambulatório de Hanseníase do Hospital Universitário Professor Edgar Santos. ANCA and Antinuclear antibodies (ANA) were determined by indirect immunofluorescence using commercially available kits. Twenty patients were enrolled in our study, nine males and 11 females. The mean age was 36.9+/-18.2 years. ANCA were present only in one patient, with a perinuclear staining pattern (p-ANCA), and no patient tested positive for ANA. Although other studies have shown the presence of ANCA in leprosy, the low frequency of these antibodies in leprosy sera demonstrated in the present study illustrates the high specificity of ANCA for the diagnosis of Wegener granulomatosis.