Testing for Immune‐Mediated Hematologic Disease

Prevalence of antinuclear antibodies and rheumatoid factor titers in dogs with arthritis secondary to leishmaniosis (Leishmania infantum)

“…However, ANA has also been reported in several immune-mediated and infectious diseases. 20 Rheumatoid factor (RF) is typically an immunoglobulin (Ig)M or occasionally IgA autoantibody that binds to the Fc region of IgG. RF is used in the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis in dogs; however, it may occasionally be detected in other forms of autoimmune polyarthritis.…”

“…The discrepancy between the ANA seropositivity reported by the aforementioned studies and our findings is unlikely to be attributed to the use of an immunoperoxidase assay as opposed to an immunofluorescence assay, given that both assays were found to have comparable performance when the Hep-2 line was used as a substrate for the determination of ANA in humans. 20 However, the discrepancy might be attributed partially to the different specificity of the cell line substrates used. According to one study, the Hep-2 cell line appears to be more specific as a substrate compared to rat liver cell line substrate for the determination of ANA in dogs; specifically, when a titer of 25 was considered as the cutoff value, 20% of healthy dogs were positive for ANA.…”