The antichromatin antibodies can be useful as a diagnostic tool and disease activity marker of systemic lupus erythematosus in Koreans.

We have investigated the clinical utility of antichromatin antibodies for the diagnosis of SLE and as a marker of disease activity in Korean SLE patients. Blood samples were collected from SLE patients, lupus syndrome patients having only two or three of ACR classification criteria for SLE and normal controls. The level of antichromatin antibody was measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay and expressed as arbitrary unit. The antichromatin antibody levels of the SLE and lupus syndrome patients were higher than NC. The antichromatin antibody levels were significant higher in SLE patients with arthritis. A significant correlation was found between the level of antichromatin antibodies and each of anti-dsDNA antibody, leukopenia, complement and SLEDAI. The change of antichromatin antibody levels showed a positive correlation with the change of SLEDAI in serial samples. These data suggest that the antichromatin antibodies appear to be a useful laboratory test that can help in the diagnosis and assessment of SLE.