Storage/Transport Temperature: 1 mL serum at 2-8°C. (Min: 0.2 mL) Submit specimen in an ARUP Standard Transport Tube.
Remarks: Separate serum from cells ASAP.
Unacceptable Conditions: Plasma and other body fluids. Severely lipemic or bacterially contaminated specimens.
Stability (collection to initiation of testing): After separation from cells: Ambient: 2 days; Refrigerated: 2 weeks; Frozen: 1 year (avoid repeated freeze/thaw cycles)
Reference Interval:
29 AU/mL or less: Negative 30-40 AU/mL: Equivocal 41 AU/mL or greater: Positive
Interpretive Data:
Autoantibodies reacting with cytoplasmic ribosomes are highly specific for systemic lupus erythematosus. Ribosomal-P antibodies are found in approximately 12% of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and in 90% of patients with lupus psychosis; titers often increase more than fivefold during and before active phases of psychosis.