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Anti dsdna blood test?

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Posted 1/20/2022 11:34 PM (GMT 0)
Coming over from the Crohn's forum. It's seems very possible right now that my Daughter is having drug induced lupus. She's been on Remicade for 10 years, and might have anti-bodies at this point. Her GI is doing this blood test to test for SLE. Is this a definitive blood test for Lupus? It seems that having Crohn's and Lupus is extremely rare, but her GI is just covering all the bases.
Posted 1/21/2022 2:45 AM (GMT 0)
Following you over from the Crohn's forum. smile

There is no definitive blood test for lupus. There are several that are correlated (to varying degrees) to having SLE, but there is no single test that determines it. Diagnosis is always based on a combination of several blood tests plus having multiple positive symptoms.

As for anti dsdna specificially, I think about 1/3 of people with SLE are positive for it. That means 2/3 of people with SLE are negative for it. On the other hand, only a small number of people have it positive but *don't* have SLE.

So if it's positive, SLE is highly suspected and needs to be considered. But if it's negative, SLE still can't be ruled out.

In your daughter's situation, it's best to have it measured along with measuring anti-histone antibodies.

Those results, in combination with her symptoms, should help determine whether it's SLE, drug-induced lupus, or neither.
Posted 1/21/2022 3:31 AM (GMT 0)
A Lupus diagnosis is based on having at least 4 of the 11 indicators -- follow the link below for diagnosing Lupus.

I've had Lupus for over 20 years and been active in lupus forums for most of that time, and I can honestly say that an anti-dsDNA test is hardly ever used for diagnosis. Since lupus is so elusive, there are other inflammation markers that are often checked first, along with a trial-n-error type dx, where the idea is, "if this is lupus, then this will help" -- and if it doesn't help, it's probably not lupus.

Note that the right Dr to be testing for lupus is a rheumatologist - it's a mysterious and complex disease, and other generalist Drs might think they know what to test (thus the idea of ONE DEFINITIVE test), they really aren't very well equipped to dx, and certainly not trained to treat lupus.

Best wishes
Posted 1/22/2022 1:56 AM (GMT 0)
Thank-you both for the detailed replies,

@beave: Really didn't expect that you would be responding here. We've posted back and forth so many times over the years, but didn't know you had any link to Lupus?

As for the test I inquired about, I have a much clearer picture now. What about going back to drug induced Lupus? Would this test show a positive for that as well? She is currently awaiting the results of the anti-histone as well.
Posted 1/22/2022 4:33 AM (GMT 0)
Hi, yes, we mostly correspond on the Crohn's forum, but I also follow this section (for lupus) and the UC section.

I have Crohn's, and I've also been diagnosed with Undifferentiated Connective Tissue Disease (UCTD), which is kind of the little sibling to SLE (systemic lupus). It's an autoimmune disease in the same family as lupus, and it has a lot of similar presentations, but is milder overall.

As to your question, if she has drug-induced lupus, likely the anti-histone will be positive and the anti-dsdna will be negative. If she has actual SLE, not drug-induced, the anti-histone will likely be negative, and the anti-dsdna will be positive or negative. If both are negative, it could be something like what I have, UCTD, or it could be nothing, or some other condition in this family of autoimmune diseases.

Again, these results always need to be interpreted by a rheumatologist in conjunction with symptom presentations. I know we've talked about her symptoms some in the Crohn's section here.
Posted 1/23/2022 1:47 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks Beave,

I continue to update as the results come in. Could be a couple of weeks though.
Posted 2/16/2022 11:25 PM (GMT 0)
73 Monte,

How is your daughter doing?

Clo
Posted 2/17/2022 11:32 PM (GMT 0)
Hey Clo,

The dsdna bloodtest came back negative. See my most recent post on the Crohn's forum, and we had an appt. today.
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