Seroprevalence of markers of autoimmune diseases in the immunology laboratory of the University Hospital Joseph Ravoahangy Andrianavalona

Abstract

Introduction: Autoimmune diseases (AIDs) occur as a result of a dysfunction of the immune system which, instead of defending the body against external aggressions, attacks the components of the "self". Some antibodies are specific to an autoimmune pathology. The presence of antinuclear antibodies (ANA) and rheumatoid factor (RF) are biological signs of autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematous and rheumatoid arthritis, and Antistreptolysin O (ASO) is commonly evaluated in the suspicion of rheumatic fever. Our objective is to estimate the prevalence of three autoimmune markers (ANA, FR and ASO) performed in the Immunology Laboratory of the Joseph Ravoahangy Andrianavalona Hospital (JRAH). Material and Methods: The study was a retrospective, analytical study investigating on markers of autoimmune diseases at the Formation and Research Paraclinic Unit in Immunology (FRUI) of the Joseph Ravoahangy Andrianavalona Hospital (JRAH). The study was conducted over five years from January 2015 to 2020 based on the consultation the requests for analysis of antinuclear antibodies, rheumatoid factor and ASO. Results: During the study period, 87 requests for antinuclear antibody analysis were processed, of which 18 cases were positive (20.7%), for rheumatoid factor, among 321 requested tests 22 (6.9%) and 1,346 ASO requests, 47.8% were above 200 IU/L. Conclusion: Taken together, our study agrees with the findings of many authors who suggest that the three markers of autoimmune diseases predominate mostly in women with particular age range dominated over 40 years for ANA and RF and young under 20 years for ASO.