Increased Anti-Annexin 1 Antibodies Are Likely in Discoid Lupus Erythematosus

But development of a commercially available diagnostic test is doubtful.


The diagnosis of discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE) is rarely in question when the clinical and histopathologic findings correlate, but diagnosis of DLE localized to the palms or soles, or sometimes to the scalp, can be problematic. A serologic test with positive predictive value would be useful in the rare instances when DLE is difficult to diagnose. Two previous studies showed the presence of anti-annexin 1 antibodies in the sera of patients with systemic LE (SLE) or rheumatoid arthritis.

Investigators attempted to correlate the presence of these antibodies with disease activity and the presence of systemic disease in 78 patients with the three subsets of cutaneous LE (CLE) — DLE, tumid lupus erythematosus (TLE), and subacute CLE (SCLE). Fifteen percent of the patients with CLE had antibodies to annexin 1. However, 32% of the patients with DLE and 10% of those with SCLE had such antibodies, but none of those with TLE. The researchers found no difference in antibody status in patients who met the criteria for systemic disease, and there was no apparent correlation with disease activity. In addition, the titer of the antibody did not correlate with any clinical parameter. The positive and negative predictive values for DLE were 73% and 76%, respectively.


Citation(s):

Kretz CC et al. Anti-annexin 1 antibodies: A new diagnostic marker in the serum of patients with discoid lupus erythematosus. Exp Dermatol 2010 Oct; 19:919.