Relationship of Clinical and Laboratory Findings to Lupus Band Test in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Kim, Sung Hwa; Chung, Sang Lip

Abstract

The lupus band test(LHT) has been proposed as a diagnostic test for lupus erythematosus(LE), differentiating discoid I E from systemic LE and also has prognostic values. For the better understanding of relation between LBT and prognosis in SLE. a study was carried out in 32 SLE patients with skin lesions. Immunofluorescent study was done with biopsies taken from involved skin and uninvolved skin of patients with SLE. The results were as follows . 1) Incidences of a positive LBT were 84% in both involved and uninvolved skin and IgM was most frequently deposited(66% & 72%) in both, whereas IgA was least frequently deposited(34% & 19%) in both. 2) Deposits in DEJ of IgG, IgM, IgA and C were found with approximately same frequency in patients with different clinical manifestations and different laboratory findings. 3) Incidences of positive LBT in patients with renal disease were approximately same as in patients without renal disease. And deposits of all clssses of immuno glcbulins were found with about the same frequency in these two groups. 4) A positive LBT composed of IgG alone or IgG and other Igs were associated with an increase of anemia, ANA, anti-DNA and hypocomplementemia. Ten renal biopsies showed diffuse proliferative glomerulonephritis(GN) in focal proliferative GN in 3 and membranous CiN in 2 and no correlation to immune deposits.