[Dermatomyositis and Autoantibodies]

Abstract

Recent studies have identified novel dermatomyositis-specific autoantibodies and revealed that disease-specific autoantibodies become positive at a high rate in this disease. Moreover, these autoantibodies have been demonstrated to show a strong correlation with distinct clinical manifestations and complications such as interstitial lung disease and malignancy. Thus, these autoantibodies are now recognized as useful tools to classify this varied disease into more homogeneous subsets. In this review, the clinical significance of five dermatomyositis-specific autoantibodies, anti-Mi-2, anti-MDA5, anti-TIF1, anti-NXP2, and anti-SAE, was described.