PLATES 70 XO 73

No abstract

A nuclear factors has been reported in association with age. Seligmann found that 16 per cent of sera from healthy persons 60 to 80 years old demonstrated nuclear reactivity.% Litwin and Singer found antinuclear factors present in approximately 7 per cent of non-rheumatic individuals and in none of the younger control individuak2 An increased occurrence of antinuclear factors was also noted by Cammarata et al. among an aged group which, however, included occasional patients with rheumatoid arthriti~.~ It has been suggested that antinuclear factors may be more common among elderly women than men.lThe following study was undertaken to determine the occurrence of antinuclear factors in prospectively selected nonrheumatic patients 60 years of age or older and in young control patients. The reactive properties and immunoglobulin composition of antinuclear factors in aged individuals were compared with the corresponding characteristics of antinuclear factors associated with connective tissue disease. Clinical and endocrine histories of aged persons demonstrating nuclear reactivity were examined for conditions which correlated with the presence of antinuclear activity and might possibly predispose to the rise of antinuclear antibodies.