Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsHow the Test Is PerformedANA Blood Test ReportANA TiterThe Significance of ANA PatternWhat Does a Positive ANA Blood Test Result Mean?Incidence of ANA in Various DiseasesA Word From Verywell
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
How the Test Is Performed
ANA Blood Test Report
ANA Titer
The Significance of ANA Pattern
What Does a Positive ANA Blood Test Result Mean?
Incidence of ANA in Various Diseases
A Word From Verywell
An ANA blood test (antinuclear antibody test) is usually performed on a blood sample as part of the diagnostic process for certainautoimmune diseases.It is usually ordered along with other blood tests, such asCBCandESR—and all of the results are considered together.
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The ANA blood test measures a certain type of antibodies.
If you are having an ANA blood test, sometimes called FANA (fluorescent antinuclear antibody test), your blood sample is drawn and sent to the lab for testing.
Serum from the blood specimen is added to microscope slides which have commercially prepared cells on the slide surface. If your serum contains antinuclear antibodies, they would bind to the cells (specifically the nuclei of the cells) on the slide.
Make Blood Draws Easier
A second antibody, commercially tagged with a fluorescent dye, is added to the mix of serum and commercially prepared cells on the slide. The second (fluorescent) antibody attaches to the serum antibodies and cells which have bound together. When the slide is viewed under an ultraviolet microscope, antinuclear antibodies appear as fluorescent cells.
An ANA blood test report has three parts:
Here is an example:
Serial Dilutions:1:10 positive1:20 positive1:40 positive1:80 positive1:160 positive (titer reported as 1:160)1:320 negative
ANA titers and patterns can vary between laboratory testing sites due to variations in the methodology used.
The commonly recognized patterns include:
Antinuclear antibodies are found in people with various autoimmune diseases, but they can also be high in people who have other conditions.
Antinuclear antibodies can also be found in people with:
Some prescription drugs can cause drug-induced antinuclear antibodies.
The prevalence of antinuclear antibodies in healthy people is estimated to be 3-15%, but is strongly age-dependent, and increases to 10-37% in healthy people over age 65.
ANA results are just one factor considered when a diagnosis is being formulated. Your healthcare provider would also consider your clinical symptoms, medical history, and other diagnostic tests.
Statistically-speaking, the incidence of positive ANA test results (in percent per condition) is:
Subsets of the ANA blood tests are sometimes used to determine the specific autoimmune disease. For this purpose, a doctor may order anti-dsDNA, anti-Sm, Sjögren’s antigens (SSA, SSB), Scl-70 antibodies, anti-centromere, anti-histone, and anti-RNP.
How Lupus Is Diagnosed
The ANA blood test can seem complicated. The results—positive or negative, titer, pattern, and subset test results—can provide healthcare providers with valuable clues to help diagnose many medical conditions. The results are considered along with your health history and results of other tests. Rest assured that even if the road to getting a diagnosis takes longer than you would like—there are treatments to help control your symptoms and your underlying condition.
Blood Tests for Autoimmune Diseases
3 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Nosal RS, Varacallo M.Biochemistry, antinuclear antibodies (ANA). StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.Testing.com.Antinuclear antibody (ANA) test.American College of Rheumatology.Antinuclear antibodies (ANA).
3 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Nosal RS, Varacallo M.Biochemistry, antinuclear antibodies (ANA). StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.Testing.com.Antinuclear antibody (ANA) test.American College of Rheumatology.Antinuclear antibodies (ANA).
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Nosal RS, Varacallo M.Biochemistry, antinuclear antibodies (ANA). StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.Testing.com.Antinuclear antibody (ANA) test.American College of Rheumatology.Antinuclear antibodies (ANA).
Nosal RS, Varacallo M.Biochemistry, antinuclear antibodies (ANA). StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.
Testing.com.Antinuclear antibody (ANA) test.
American College of Rheumatology.Antinuclear antibodies (ANA).
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