Antinuclear antibodies appearing during PUVA therapy

Abstract

Antinuclear antibodies (ANA) were studied in patients receiving PUVA therapy. Ten patients out of 124, (8%), considered for PUVA had ANA prior to therapy. During PUVA treatment ANA appeared in 34 out of 100 patients. Eight patients with ANA initially were treated and in 4 of them a significant increase in ANA titre was noted. A statistically significant difference was noted, when the first and last ANA tests for each patient were compared. No such difference was seen in a control group consisting of 33 patients. All PUVA patients generating ANA were evaluated clinically and with a laboratory screening. This evaluation was negative in all patients except one who developed ANA of the nucleolar staining pattern together with symptoms consistent with a collagen vascular disease. The ANA titres were generally low and the staining pattern was of the homogeneous type in all patients but one.