A novel anti-ENA antibody in sera of patients with childhood idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura.

Circulating antibodies against certain extractable nuclear antigens (ENA) have been shown to have diagnostic and prognostic importance in connective tissue diseases. We described here an antibody against ENA found in the sera of patients with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). The antigen, tentatively called WK according to the patients' initials, was distinct from U1 RNP/Sm, SSA/SSB, Scl-70, PCNA, PM-Scl, Jo-1, and Ku by immunodiffusion. On immunoblotting, the anti-WK serum recognized polypeptides of 99 kd, 98 kd, and 96 kd in rabbit thymus extracts and a 99 kd polypeptide in KB cell extracts. The anti-WK antibody was detected in the sera of 2 out of 360 ANA positive patients, both children with clinical features of ITP. One patient developed systemic lupus erythematosus eight years after the onset of ITP.