Anti-glomerular basement membrane antibodies in the diagnosis of Goodpasture syndrome: a comparison of different assays.

Background: The role of anti-glomerular basement membrane (GBM) antibodies in the pathogenesis of Goodpasture syndrome (GPS) is firmly established. Untreated, the disease may follow a fulminating course. Early identification of patients has important implications in terms of management and prognosis.

Anti-C1q autoantibodies in lupus nephritis: prevalence and clinical significance.

Recently, anti-C1q autoantibodies have been proposed as a useful marker in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) since their occurrence correlates with renal involvement and, possibly, with nephritic activity. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence of anti-C1q antibodies in patients with SLE, with and without renal involvement, and to correlate these markers' presence and levels with the activity of the disease and nephropathy. We studied 61 patients with SLE, 40 of whom had biopsy-proven lupus nephritis; 35 patients with other connective tissue diseases; and 54 healthy controls.

The use of laboratory tests in diagnosis and monitoring of systemic lupus erythematosus.

Clinical immunology laboratories play an essential role in diagnosis and monitoring of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). To obtain the best results in terms of diagnostic performance and clinical usefulness, the following recommendations should be fulfilled: Indirect immunofluorescence on Hep-2 cells remains the method of choice for the detection of anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA). The sensitivity of ANA test for SLE is very high (almost 100%) but its specificity low since ANA can be present in a number of different clinical conditions and even in normal controls.