Antinucleosome antibodies in juvenile chronic arthritis

A broad range of autoantibodies have been detected in juvenile chronic arthritis (JCA) patients, although, none of them can be considered specific for this entity. Antinuclear antibody (ANA) is routinely searched in these patients mainly because it is associated with uveitis, a comorbidity that is particularly frequent in the oligoarticular form. Nevertheless, the ANA specific antigen target in JCA is unknown. In this study, we aimed to search for antinucleosome antibodies in 30 adult JCA patients and to study possible associations with clinical profile. Ten individuals (33.3%) were positive for antinucleosome antibodies and seven (70%) were simultaneously ANA positive (p = 0.01). We did not find any significant association among antinucleosome and JCA form, uveitis, age of onset, gender, or functional index. We conclude that in JCA, there is a prevalence of 33.3% of antinucleosome antibodies. Further investigations are needed to understand the ANA positivity found in this disease as far as the clinical impact of this finding.