Anti-Perinuclear Fator (APF)

Anti-perinuclear antibodies (APN) were studied in 547 subjects, 123 of whom suffered from rheumatoid polyarthritis (RP). They were detected 88 times in the latter group (72 percent). 26 percent of RP were without serological abnormalities when only rheumatoid factors were considered (latex, Waaler-Rose, Waaler-Rose LOR, rheumatoid factors by indirect immunofluorescence). The rate dropped to 10 percent when APN were included. This test is therefore sensitive. It is also specific as APN exists in only 11 percent of non-rheumatoid rheumatological diseases not including psoriasis (42 percent) and in 16 percent of other auto-immune diseases. In addition, there is a correlation (p less than 0.01) between APN level and the evolution of the rheumatoid illness. APN appears early in an illness and is thus of diagnostic and prognostic interest in RP.