Tissue antibodies in a healthy New Zealand population

The occurrence of antinuclear, smooth muscle, parietal cell, reticulum, thyroid microsomal and mitochondrial autoantibodies in the sera of 1641 healthy males and 959 healthy females was investigated. Females were also treated for antibodies to adrenal cortex and salivary gland. A rising frequency of autoantibodies with increasing age was observed in both sexes with the average frequency being 19.3 percent for females and 15.9 percent for males. The most commonly detected autoantibodies were those directed against reticulin and thyroid microsomes. Mitochondrial, adrenal and salivary gland autoantibodies, and antinuclear antibody titres greater than 1:32 occurred so rarely in the healthy population that their appearance in patients should be regarded as a possible indication of clinical disease.