Antibodies to centromere and centriole in scleroderma spectrum disorders

The importance of early detection of scleroderma spectrum disorders (SSD) has been emphasized. We determined the clinical distribution of anticentromere antibody (ACA) and anticentriole antibody in the following four groups: (1) 264 patients with SSD, including 193 with systemic sclerosis, 29 with mixed connective tissue disease and 42 with suspected secondary Raynaud's phenomenon (RP); (2) 26 patients with primary RP; (3) 248 patients with other connective tissue diseases, and (4) 139 patients with other skin diseases. The frequency of ACA was significantly higher in SSD (78/264, 30%) than in the other groups. In patients with SSD, the incidence of ACA in suspected secondary RP (28/42, 67%) was similar to that in type I systemic sclerosis (24/36, 67%). Anticentriole antibody was detected in only 1 patient with suspected secondary RP (0.4%) out of the 264 SSD patients. These data indicate that anticentriole antibody is very rare and that the antibodies against mitosis-related antigens such as centromere and centriole are associated with early SSD.