Antinuclear autoantibodies specific for lamins. Characterization and clinical significance

In 11 patients, sera displaying a ringlike nuclear immunofluorescent staining on sections of rat liver tissue were shown by Western blotting to contain antibodies to lamins. Sera from 8 patients contained autoantibodies reacting with lamin B, whereas sera from the other 3 patients reacted with lamins A and C. All patients (9 women and 2 men) had a chronic autoimmune disorder, which rarely fulfilled the usual criteria for a diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus. The disorder was characterized by acute or chronic (active or granulomatous) hepatitis; steroid-responsive blood cytopenia, often associated with a circulating anticoagulant, or anticardiolipin antibodies, or both; and cutaneous leukocytoclastic angiitis or probable brain vasculitis. Eight patients had at least two of these three conditions. Antilamin autoantibodies may thus be a marker for an unusual subset of autoimmune diseases.