Abstract:
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a prototypic multisystem autoimmune disease with a
vast spectrum of clinical presentations including almost all body organs and tissues. The
incidence of lupus has tripled in the last 40 years, mainly due to the improved diagnosis. For
more than 60 years the presence of autoantibodies in patients with SLE has been known. A
great effort is being made for understanding the diagnostic, pathogenic and prognostic
meaning of these autoantibodies. The study demonstrated the significance of autoantibodies
test in Egyptian SLE patients. The results showed that 93.3% of patients have positive ANA
test, 90% have positive anti-dsDNA. Anti-Sm antibodies were in 40% and 49.3% of patients
have positive anti-nucleosome antibody test. Also, 30.6% of patients deve-loped a positive
anti-histone test & 26% have positive anti-ribosomal test. Anti-phospholipids antibodies were
found in 44.6% of patients. Levels of C3 & C4 (0.552±0.43 & 0.125±0.12, respectively) were
lower than that of control group (1.2±0.35 & 0.42±0.54 for C3 & C4, respectively).
Key words: Egypt, Systemic lupus erythematosus, Autoantibodies test