systemic lupus international collaborating clinics (SLICC) (6) for the diagnosis of SLE, most of these autoantibodies lack sufficient sensitivity and/or specificity for use in clinical diagnosis. Discovery of additional autoantibodies with high sensitivity and specificity is important for early diagnosis and assessment of the prognosis of SLE (7).
Anti-ribosomal P(Anti-Rib-P) antibody, routinely tested in SLE, targets a homologous 22-amino acid C-terminal (C-22) sequence shared by three ribosomal phosphoproteins known as P0, P1, and P2 (8).
The prevalence of anti-Rib-P antibody is about 15-40% in SLE patients and varies with the ethnicity, disease activity and detection method (9). Studies have disclosed that anti-P antibodies react with activated T cells but not with B cells, suggesting possible direct effects of anti-P antibodies on immune regulation (10).
