Clinical associations of serum Golgi apparatus antibodies in an immunology laboratory cohort

Introduction: Anti-Golgi antibodies (AGAs) are rare antibodies that are found as distinct, polarised cytoplasmic staining on the HEp-2 substrate. Methods: We performed a review of patients that demonstrated this autoantibody in a large laboratory cohort in Australia. Over a 24-month period, all patients that had a sample submitted for routine antinuclear antibodies (ANAs) that had AGA staining were retrospectively identified. Medical records were perused to identify clinical associations. Results: There were 23 813 ANAs identified with 34 patients (0.14%) demonstrating AGA staining. AGAs were found in a variety of inflammatory disorders, malignancies and liver diseases. They did not associate with any other significant ANA, and in contrast with previous studies, we did not find any association with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases. Conclusions: Anti-Golgi antibodies are rare, non-specific and possibly a bystander phenomenon. Future studies are required to study the origin and longitudinal clinical associations of these autoantibodies.