Lupus Support Group

ladies, what info can you give me regarding mctd? if i understand correctly a positive anti-rnp would be indicative of mctd. thanks in advance! hope everyone has a great sunday! wendy

Hi Wendy. I've read that lupies have anti-rnp too, and that lupies have a wide variations & collections of different autoimmune markers.

Hope you'll have a nice weekend too.

Marie

hi looopie, i was looking up mctd on the internet and ran across this info from mayoclinic.com:

Mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) is a rare autoimmune disorder that causes signs and symptoms of several other connective tissue diseases. People with mixed connective tissue disease experience features of three other diseases — lupus, scleroderma and polymyositis. For this reason, mixed connective tissue disease is sometimes referred to as an overlap disease.

the info i found indicates that a positive anti-rnp is indicative of mctd. you are saying that lupies also have a positive anti-rnp without having mctd? wendy

My rheumy calls it undifferentiated connective tissue disease. It's a collection of autoimmune diseases....in my case lupus, scleraderma and sjorgren's.

heidi, my understanding is that when the anti-rnp is negative it is uctd which is different than mctd. in uctd there are lupus associated symptoms, signs and/or lab abnormalities but the patient does not fulfill the criteria for any rheumatic disorders. my understanding is that when the anti-rnp is positive that it is mctd as is stated in my previous post. i really am very curious about this so appreciate your responding. i have tested positive for anti-rnp and have been told that i have mctd so i am trying to find out what others know about this - all replies are greatly appreciated. wendy

Hi Wendy. Lupies could test positive to anti rnp too, so do those with systemic sclerosis.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6W8V-4KRY1S5-3&_user=10&_coverDate=03%2F31%2F2007&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1178696707&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=b53d41a744233856dd11e079143b5b20

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15804705

Different lupies manifest different autoimmunity markers, and this is dependent on our genetic makeup, our genetic polymorphism, severity of flaring etc.. It's just like when some lupies don't have a positive ANA whilst others do.

May be we lupies should aim to getting our autoimmunity markers all negative, and symptoms free. Oh what joy that would be.

Hope you'll have a stress free day.

Marie

looopie, thank you for the links. most of the info was over my head - lupie brain i guess

just doesn't understand all that technical stuff. the one thing that i did think was

interesting and helps me to understand what part the positive anti-rnp may signify in my

disease is that anti-RNP antibodies are more prevalent in patients with Raynaud's

phenomenon. perhaps that explains it as i do have that in addition to lupus and sjogrens.

thanks again! wendy

what the heck is going on with this post - it is all over the place, double spaced, etc.

perhaps it is just on my puter!

Yeah Wendy. What's the heck going on with this post? This post is as big as an A3 page. May be it has lupus like me

Marie