Clinical characteristics associated with antihistone antibodies in patients with localized scleroderma.

BACKGROUND

Recently we demonstrated the presence of antihistone antibodies (AHA) in localized scleroderma.

OBJECTIVE

Our purpose was to determine clinical characteristics associated with AHA in patients with localized scleroderma.

METHODS

We examined 57 serum samples by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in the following three subgroups: 15 patients with generalized morphea, 27 with linear scleroderma, and 15 with morphea. We classified the patients as having generalized morphea when they had four or more lesions on at least two areas of the body, irrespective of whether the lesions were of morphea or linear type.

RESULTS

AHA were detected in 42% of patients with localized scleroderma (24 of 57), and in 87% of patients with generalized morphea (13 of 15). The presence of AHA strongly correlated with the number of morphea lesions, the total number of lesions, and the number of involved areas of the body. However, AHA did not correlate with the presence or number of linear lesions. The presence of AHA showed a 87% sensitivity (13 of 15 patients) and a 74% specificity (31 of 42 patients) for generalized morphea.

CONCLUSION

Our data suggest that AHA are a serologic marker for generalized morphea and that the validity of our new classification for generalized morphea is supported by the high frequency of AHA detection.