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Medical Author:

William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

Dr. Shiel received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from the University of Notre Dame. There he was involved in research in radiation biology and received the Huisking Scholarship. After graduating from St. Louis University School of Medicine, he completed his Internal Medicine residency and Rheumatology fellowship at the University of California, Irvine. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology.

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In this Article

• What are antinuclear antibodies?
• How is the ANA test designed? What is it for?
• What are autoimmune diseases?
• What other conditions cause ANAs to be produced?
• Can medications cause ANAs to be produced?
• ANAs are defined as having patterns. What does this mean?
• Are ANAs always associated with illness?
• Patient Comments: Antinuclear Antibody Test - Testing
• Antinuclear Antibody Index

What other conditions cause ANAs to be produced?

ANAs can be produced in patients with infections (virus or bacteria), lung diseases (primary pulmonary fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension), gastrointestinal diseases (ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, primary biliary cirrhosis, alcoholic liver disease), hormonal diseases (Hashimoto's autoimmune thyroiditis, Grave's disease), blood diseases (idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, hemolytic anemia), cancers (melanoma, breast, lung, kidney, ovarian and others), skin diseases (psoriasis, pemphigus), as well as in the elderly and those people with a family history of rheumatic diseases.

Can medications cause ANAs to be produced?

Many medications can sometimes stimulate the production of ANAs, including procainamide (Procan SR), hydralazine, and dilantin. ANAs that are stimulated by medication are referred to as drug-induced ANAs. This does not necessary mean that any disease is present when these ANAs are "induced." Sometimes diseases are associated with these ANAs, and they are referred to as drug-induced diseases.