Blood Test Result ?

[slightlybroken]

Last week my new neuro ordered a whole lot of blood test. She did a full MS Mimic Panel along with test that show problems with getting blood clots since I have trouble with that. These are the results.

Sed Rate............................................................normal range
CBC W/Diff.........................................................all normal range
SS-A & SS-B......................................................negative
ACE...................................................................normal range
Activated Protein C Resistance.............................normal
RPR...................................................................nonreactive
Vitamin B12........................................................normal range
Rheumatoid Factor..............................................normal range
Lipid Panel..........................................................all normal except for high normal TRIG
Homocysteine.....................................................normal range
CK.....................................................................normal range
Protein S AG, Total.............................................normal range

These are the test that showed below normal abnormalities.
Protein S Activity
Protein C Ag
Protein C Activity...............................................below low normal..The reason for this is because of the blood thinners I'm taking.

Anti-Cardiolipin IgG............................................Inconclusive range
There is a note for this that states..."Results in the inconclusive range and positive results for IgM only, should be carefully interpreted. Most patients with antiphospholipid antibody syndrome have moderate or high levels of cardiolipin antibodies and are positive for IgG only, or IgG and IgM.
My IgM and Cardiolipin Antibodies IgA are  
IgM.................................................................Absent or none detected
Cardiolipin Antibodies IgA.................................Negative


This test was abnormal
ANA................................................................detected/abnormal

Can anyone interpret my results? The only abnormal test seems to be the ANA. What does that mean? Can you have a positive ANA with MS?

[slightlybroken]

Thanks for the info. I greatly appreciate it.

[GWilliker]

A low titer ANA is a pretty common thing and almost never means anything.  As someone said above, it mostly depends on the titer.  A level of 1:40 to 1:120 isn't often very meaningful.  Something like 15% of the normal poplulation will have titres like these.  As you get to titers of greater than 1:320 it is more likely to be indicative of a real disease process.

Quix O. G. Whilliker

[Deb61]

I thought I had lupus for years, because of a low-titer ANA  and all the symptoms that I had.  It really does depend on how high the ANA test is.  The doctor that wrote "The Lupus Book" (I forget his name) says that a lot of people with MS have positive ANA tests.  He doesn't explain why, but I suspect it's because MSers bodies are attacking itself just like people with lupus.  He says that it's also not uncommon for people to have both MS and lupus (or MS and thyroid disease or MS and any other autoimmune disease . . . ).

If you have lupus or Sjogren's, expect higher titers of ANA if it's active.  What's tricky is that lupus comes and goes and the ANA will also be lower.  However, I've heard that with primary Sjogren's (I can't be 100%, though I only know what I've read in that book) you typically will have sky-high titers of ANA.  

It does appear that something is going haywire in the autoimmune arena!  If your ANA tests come back high, you'll probably be sent to a rheumatologist.  I think that the ANA doesn't measure the inflammation, just the autoimmune activity.  My guess is that the blood clots may be secondary to an autoimmune disease problem (take that with a grain of salt, though).

Deb

[slightlybroken]

I don't have the complete ANA levels. They said they would send it later. This might be stupid but could inflammation caused by a blood clot (DVT) raise the levels. I still have 2 pieces of the blood clot left and my leg still swells. Just a thought.

[slightlybroken]

The ACE was for Sarcoidosis as well but it is in normal range and SS-A & SS-B is for Sjogrens and it was also negative. My new neuro said that with these blood test aren't 100%. Sometimes with the case of Sjogrens and Sarcoidosis, a biopsy gives definate answers than the blood test.

I was wondering if the ANA can be elevated in MS. I read that it was more commonly elevated in autoimmune diseases but I also read that it could be elevated in MS. I was just wondering if that was a reliable statement. These test have been ordered multiple times but this is the first time something has came up abnormal.

I'm still waiting for other blood test that was ordered to come back.

[Heather3418]

An ANA positive result indicates inflammation somewhere in your body.  It can come from arthritis for one.  I have also been told that it may be elevated in someone in from even something simple as a tick bite. Or someone with MS.  I have had MS for 14 years and only one ANA test came back positive.  My latest one was negative.  My son in law has Lupus and has a positive ANA titer.  It can also be from a benign case.  Do you know what your level was?

All in all, I would say from the blood work you had done that you are a pretty healthy lady.  I would ask the doctor what he thinks is causing the positive ANA titer.

Heather

[Tahiri_Veila]

An abnormal ANA can mean multiple things.  A lot of mimicers of MS are ruled out by this test.  A few are Lupus, Sarcoidosis, Sjrogen's disease among others.  The fact that you have an abnormal ANA could mean that you will need further testing to rule these mimicers in or out.  
I was told that your sed rate would be abnormal with sjrogen's. So you probably don't have that.
Hope someone else can help.
Tahiri