Antibody to Ro in a population of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: distribution, clinical and serological associations.

Anti-Ro occurs in 1/3 of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with equal prevalence at all ages, ages at onset of SLE, and disease durations. In SLE anti-Ro is associated with xerophthalmia but not rheumatoid factor (RF). Anti ds-DNA rather than anti-Ro or RF is associated with SLE arthritis. We found a positive correlation between increased anti ds-DNA levels and the prevalence of anti-Ro in SLE patients' sera. This reinforces the thesis that anti-Ro may have considerable value as a diagnostic marker for SLE.