[Autoantibodies and autoimmune rheumatologic diseases]

The paper describes the significance of various autoantibodies in autoimmune rheumatologic diseases. A greater number of laboratory tests also means a greater possibility of diagnosing these diseases. In some cases the antibodies correlate with disease activity, some antibodies serve as prognostic indicators, others allow the following of disease activity or success of treatment. In any case, the role of numerous autoantibodies in the pathogenesis of rheumatologic inflammatory diseases is still unclarified und further investigation will be necessary to obtain the answer to this important question.