Heterogeneity of Antinuclear Factors in Lupus Erythematosus and Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Abstract

Summary Twenty-six sera from adults and children with lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, or chronic active hepatitis were tested in a 3-layer immunofluorescence test on human white cell nuclei. Rabbit antisera against human type I and type II Bence Jones protein were used to determine whether the antinuclear factors contained type I or type II L chains. Twenty-four of the sera were shown to contain ANF with both types of L chains. In the remaining 2 cases quantitative considerations limited the study. Both type I and type II ANF were also found in isolated fractions of _γ2 and _γ1M globulins in 4 lupus sera.