| Abstract: | ![]()
The laboratory diagnosis of autoimmune disease depends mainly on the demonstration of autoantibodies. We determined the prevalence in an apparently healthy Australian population of the following autoantibodies : anti-nuclear antibody, rheumatoid factor, smooth muscle antibody, anti-mitochondrial and anti-microsomal antibody, and antibody to adrenal, thyroid and gastric cells. The percentage of females with one or more autoantibodies was greater than that of males throughout life, and the prevalence of autoantibodies increased with age in both sexes: over the age of 60 years more than 50% of subjects had one or more autoantibodies. It is essential in autoimmune serological studies to include “controls” precisely matched for age and sex to interpret the significance of autoantibodies in any given disease. Ageing is coincidental with, and could even be in part due to, an increasing incidence of subclinical autoimmune reactions in elderly persons. |
