[Present status and problem to measure autoantibodies--antinuclear antibodies]

Immunofluorescent antinuclear antibodies(FANA) technique has been widely used for the diagnosis of various connective tissue diseases for more than forty years. The frequency of FANA in healthy individuals, however, has elevated by recent technical advance using HEp-2 cell. In addition, clinical significance to differentiate immunofluorescent staining patterns also reduced since it has been possible to measure individual antinuclear antibodies specific for a variety of connective tissue diseases. Instead of FANA technique, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay coated with a mixture of disease specific antinuclear antigens seems to be a new approach to screen antinuclear antibodies that will increase the specificity for connective tissue diseases.