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Autoantibodies more prevalent among morphea patients
Antinuclear and antihistone antibodies were more prevalent in patients with morphea compared with controls, but were of limited clinical value, according to recent study results.
Researchers in Texas conducted a nested case-control study of 187 patients with morphea (82% female) that included adults (mean age, 46.2 years) and children (mean age, 12.2 years) enrolled in the Morphea in Adults and Children (MAC) cohort. There also were 651 age-, sex- and race-matched healthy controls (84% female), including adults (mean age, 48.6 years) and children (mean age, 11.33 years) recruited from the Scleroderma Family Registry and DNA Repository.
Presence of antinuclear antibodies (ANAs), antihistone antibodies (AHAs) and anti-single-stranded DNA antibodies (ssDNA abs) in morphea patients compared with controls, as well as associations between autoantibodies and clinical indicators of morphea severity, were the main outcomes and measures.
In patients with morphea, the overall prevalence was 34% (63 patients) for ANAs, 12% (22 patients) for AHAs, and 8% (15 patients) for ssDNA abs. Morphea patients also had a greater presence of ANAs (34% vs. 11%; P<.001) and AHAs (12% vs. 2%; P<.001) compared with controls, but not ssDNA abs (8% vs. 7%; P=.17). Among morphea subtypes, there was no difference in ANA prevalence.
Autoantibody presence in patients with linear morphea was associated with symptoms of severe morphea, including functional limitation (ssDNA ab, P=.005; AHA, P=.006), extensive body surface area involvement (ssDNA ab, P=.01; ANA, P=.005), and greater skin scores (ANA, P=.004).
Clinical measures of morphea activity showed no association with autoantibody presence.
“Our results demonstrate that ANAs and AHAs are more prevalent among patients with morphea but are of limited clinical utility except in linear morphea, where their presence, although infrequent, is associated with greater lesion burden and functional impairment,” the researchers concluded.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.