Significance of autoantibodies in diagnostics of systemic vasculitis

Systemic vasculitis is a heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by inflammation and necrosis in the vessel wall. Patients usually present a quite broad spectrum of manifestations which vary in terms of vessels’ size affected, organs involvement, and the extent of inflammatory process as well as an immunological diversity, including autoantibodies profile. Though, the diagnosis is based on clinical features, tissue biopsy, imaging investigations, and serologic tests. The main autoantibodies, important not only in the diagnosis but also in monitoring and prognosis of systemic vasculitides, are anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA), anti-glomerular basement membrane antibodies (anti-GBM), anti-complement component C1q antibodies (anti-C1q), and cryoglobulins. Although other autoantibodies have been analyzed, their clinical utility still needs further investigation. The current work aimed to review the clinical associations of main autoantibodies in systemic vasculitis.