Myositis-specific and myositis-associated autoantibody profiles and their clinical associations in a large series of patients with polymyositis and dermatomyositis

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the prevalence of myositis-specific and myositis-associated autoantibodies and their clinical correlations in a large series of patients with dermatomyositis/polymyositis. METHOD: This cross-sectional study enrolled 127 dermatomyositis cases and 95 polymyositis cases. The disease-related autoantibody profiles were determined using a commercially available blood testing kit. RESULTS: The prevalence of myositis-specific autoantibodies in all 222 patients was 34.4%, whereas myositis-associated autoantibodies were found in 41.4% of the patients. The most frequently found aut...