evaluation of anti-nuclear antibodies and anti-dsdna serum levels in patients with suspected systemic lupus erythematosus

Background and objectives: systemic lupus erythematosus (sle) is a chronic autoimmune disease, caused by abnormal innate and adaptive immune responses. anti-nuclear antibodies (ana) and anti-double stranded dna (anti-dsdna) are reliable biomarkers for diagnosing sle. here, we aimed to investigate the serum levels of anti-dsdna and ana antibodies, their diagnostic utilities, and their relationship with disease activity and clinical/laboratory manifestations in patients with suspected.methods: we evaluated the plasma levels of ana and anti-dsdna antibodies in all individuals with suspected sle (n=668) who had been referred to rheumatology clinics in gorgan, iran. the level of antibodies as well as c3, c4, and ch50 were determined using commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. results: the mean level of ana and anti-dsdna antibodies differed significantly between the ana-positive and ana-negative groups (p<0.001). however, there was no significant difference in the mean values of c3 (p=0.233), c4 (p=0.415, and ch50 (p=0.482) between the two groups. moreover, there was a significant positive correlation between ana and anti-dsdna levels (p<0.001, r=0.50). conclusion: our findings indicate that anti-dsdna levels are higher in ana-positive individuals, and there may be a positive correlation between ana and anti-dsdna levels. it is recommended to evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic values of ana and anti-dsdna antibodies in future studies.