ANA Screen, IFA, with Reflex to Titer and Pattern

Overview:

Antinuclear antibodies are antibodies directed at material inside the body's own cell nuclei. They appear in several autoimmune conditions, including lupus, Sjogren's syndrome and some forms of inflammatory arthritis, which is why this test is often the first step when such a condition is suspected. If the screen is positive, the laboratory automatically reports a titer, showing how strongly positive it is, and a pattern, describing how the antibodies bind. Both help direct further testing. An important limitation: antinuclear antibodies are also found in people with no autoimmune disease, particularly at low titers and with increasing age, so a positive screen is a starting point rather than a conclusion.

Categories:

Autoimmune, Immune

Biomarkers:

1 biomarker