Abstract
Systemic inflammatory disorders of the connective tissue, also known as connective tissue diseases are characterized by the production of antibodies directed against one's own cellular structures. These autoantibodies which usually recognize nuclear components are called generically antinuclear antibodies (ANAs). However, they can also recognize either cytoplasmic antigens or cell membrane antigens and extracellular proteins. The following ANAs are considered disease classification criteria: anti-native double-stranded (ds)DNA, anti-Sm, and antiphospholipid for systemic lupus erythematosus; anti-topoisomerase 1 and anticentromere for scleroderma; antisynthetases, which are characteristic of polymyositis, for antisynthetase syndrome; anti-U1 ribonucleoproteins (RNP) in mixed connective tissue disease; ANAs, rheumatoid factor (RF), and anti-Ro/SS-A and anti-La/SS-B in Sjögren's syndrome; RF in rheumatoid arthritis; antiphospholipid in antiphospholipid syndrome; and antineutrophil cytoplasmic (ANCA) for small vessel vasculitis and necrotizing glomerulonephritis.
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