We studied 75 cases of canine systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) presenting with at least four criteria of the American Rheumatism Association (ARA), including antinuclear antibodies (ANAb). This disease mainly affects male German shepherds of an average age of 5 years. The most common clinical signs are polyarthritis (91% of cases), and renal (65%) and cutaneo-mucous disorders (60%). Hemolytic anemia is rare (13%). ANAb are present, often at high levels (> 256 up to 10(6) by indirect immunofluorescence on mouse blood smears). The titers are correlated with the severity and the stage of the disease. As double-stranded DNA Ab are rare and as antihistone Ab are frequent, the former could be replaced by the latter in the ARA criteria applied to the SLE dog. Another category of ANAb, named anti-type 1, also seems useful in diagnosing canine SLE. As for therapy, long-term remissions (up to 9 years without treatment) were obtained in 55.6% of 27 SLE dogs treated by levamisole. At first, levamisole was associated with induction corticotherapy, then administered alone and finally discontinued. Side effects were uncommon and transient.

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We investigated the presence of autoantibodies (aAbs) directed against the parathyroid gland in 17 patients with spontaneous isolated acquired hypoparathyroidism. Fourteen patients with acquired hypoparathyroidism (AH) associated with type I or II autoimmune polyendocrinopathy syndrome were also tested in comparison with a control group of 68 subjects without AH, including patients with other autoimmune diseases and healthy blood donors. aAbs against parathyroid tissue were screened using an indirect immunofluorescence technique on primate parathyroid tissue and human parathyroid adenoma. aAbs against the calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) were analyzed using an immunoblotting assay with the recombinant extracellular domain of the human

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Antibodies to total histones and histone fractions H1, H2a‐H4, H2b, and H3 were measured in serum samples from 61 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 33 with rheumatoid arthritis, 17 with systemic sclerosis, and 20 with various other diseases by use of a sensitive immunoenzymatic assay. Histone antibodies were present in 52.4% of the SLE samples whereas only 1 of the samples from other diseases was positive (systemic sclerosis). The presence of these antibodies in SLE patients was not associated with any specific clinical manifestations, but was correlated with activity of the disease: 87% (20 of 23) of patients with active SLE, in particular 9 of 9 not yet treated, showed histone antibody whereas only 18% (4 of 22) of samples from patients with inactive SLE were positive. We believe that the measurement of histone antibodies would be a useful addition to the present laboratory parameters (antinuclear and double‐stranded DNA antibodies and circulating immune complexes) for the diagnosis and progression of systemic lupus erythematosus, particularly since they seem to appear during or just before the onset of an active phase and tend to be absent during remission.