Autoantibodies to lamin, an integral nuclear antigen, are present in some patients with autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.^1,2 The method of choice for detection of lamin autoantibodies is IFA.³ Lamin autoantibodies can occur as natural, cross-reacting, or antigen driven autoantibodies;⁴ they are common in certain patients with chronic autoimmune disease characterized by an unusual triad of conditions including delta hepatitis, cytopenia(s) with circulating anticoagulants or cardiolipin antibodies and cutaneous leukocytoclastic angiitis or probable brain vasculitis.^1-4 Lamin autoantibodies are also associated with antiphospholipid syndrome, autoimmune liver disease, thrombocytopenia and arthralgia, and may be useful in the diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome.⁵ The clinical utility of lamin autoantibodies is unknown.²  

High titers of IgG anti-lamin B1 autoantibodies are very specific for a subset of SLE patients whose clinical characteristics include the presence of lupus anticoagulant (LAC) antibodies and other laboratory manifestations of the antiphospholipid syndrome.⁶ The presence of LAC without anti-lamin B1 may define a subset of SLE patients at greater risk for thrombosis.  A recent study reports that 83% (50/60) of chronic fatigue syndrome patients had antibodies to vimentin or lamin B1, whereas a control group of patients without chronic fatigue had a significantly lower frequency of such antibodies (17%).⁷