High prevalence of antinuclear antibodies in children with thyroid autoimmunity

Background. antinuclear antibodies (ana) are a hallmark of many autoimmune diseases and can be detected many years before disease onset. autoimmune thyroid diseases (aitd) are frequently associated with other organ- and non-organ-specific autoimmune disorders. objectives. to assess the prevalence of ana in pediatric patients with aitd and their clinical correlations. methods. ninety-three consecutive pediatric patients with aitd were enrolled (86 children with chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis and 7 with graves' disease). ana,anti-double dna (anti-dsdna) antibodies,anti-extractable nuclear antigen (anti-ena),anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies (anti-ccp),and rheumatoid factor (rf) was obtained. signs and symptoms potentially related to rheumatic diseases in children were investigated by a questionnaire. results. ana positivity was found in 66/93 children (71%),anti-ena in 4/93 (4.3%),anti-dsdna in 1/93 (1.1%),rf in 3/93 (3.2%),and anti-ccp in none. no significant differences were found between the ana-positive and ana-negative groups with respect to age,sex,l-thyroxine treatment,or prevalence of other autoimmune diseases. overall,parental autoimmunity was found in 23%. conclusions. ana positivity was demonstrated in 71% of children with aitd. ana positivity was not related to overt immune-rheumatic diseases. however,because the positivity of ana can occur even many years before the onset of systemic autoimmune diseases,prospective studies are warranted. © 2014 maria segni et al.