Diagnostic performance of a commercial immunoblot assay for myositis antibody testing

The objective of this study was to establish a population based reference range for a commercial immunoblot assay detecting myositis specific autoantibodies (MSAs) and myositis associated autoantibodies (MAAs), and to assess the diagnostic performance of this reference range against the manufacturer's recommended ranges in a myositis patient cohort. A total of 124 patients from a myositis cohort and 197 healthy controls were serologically assessed using a commercial immunoblot containing eleven autoantigens (Jo-1, EJ, OJ, PL7, PL12, Mi-2, SRP, Ku, PMScl75, PMScl100 and Ro52) according to the manufacturer's instructions. Use of the manufacturer's reference ranges resulted in detection of MSAs in 19.4% of myositis patients and 9.1% of controls; MAAs were detected in 41.1% of myositis patients and 14.2% of controls. Reference values derived from the healthy control population resulted in significant differences in cut-off values for some autoantibodies, particularly Ro52 and PMScl75. Use of local reference ranges reduced detection of MSAs to 16.9% of myositis patients and 3% of healthy controls, with MAAs 23.4% of patients and 2% of healthy controls. Application of population based reference ranges resulted in significant differences in detection of MSAs and MAAs compared to the manufacturer's recommended ranges. Cut-off levels should be assessed to ensure suitability for the population tested.