My daughter has had a runny nose and a scab inside for over a year. Allergy testing was normal so the Dr did blood tests to check for an autoimmune disease. All tests were good except for the Ana which was very high. Today she did biopsy of her nose will have the results next week. Could crohns cause the Ana to be high?
High Ana levels
- Thread starter upsetmom
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ANA (anti-nuclear antibodies) are autoimmune antibodies that often go hand-in-hand with Crohn's. ANA is more typically taken as a biomarker for autoimmune disease such as rheumatoid arthritis and especially lupus.
It's not clear that Crohn's "causes" ANA nor the other way around. Crohn's is technically not an autoimmune disease, but it shares many features in common with autoimmunity, the primary one being an overly-active immune system. Which is why many of the same drugs are used to treat both IBD and various autoimmune conditions.
There are additional tests the docs can do to further sub-type the ANA to characterize which components of the cell nucleus the ANA is reacting with. I'm a Crohn's patient with a positive ANA myself. My ANA staining pattern is one normally associated with lupus. But I don't actually have lupus (they looked for it), just Crohn's.
So I'd have the docs follow-up on the positive ANA and have your daughter checked thoroughly for autoimmune disease, but by no means should you jump to a diagnosis of lupus or something similar based on one positive ANA test.
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We were told that anti-TNFs can cause a positive ANA. Some people have drug induced lupus symptoms with that positive ANA, symptoms like fatigue, a butterfly rash, joint pain etc. Does your daughter have any of those symptoms?
Those people have drug induced lupus. Generally, the anti-TNF is stopped because of the drug induced Lupus. Remicade causes it most often of the anti-TNFs, I believe.
Other biologics can also cause drug-induced lupus but I think it is much rarer. My daughter got drug induced lupus from Entyvio. She was her GI's first patient to get drug-induced Lupus from it. I'm not sure about Stelara but I'd assume it can also cause a positive ANA.
But you can also have a positive ANA and not have drug induced Lupus - it's either caused by the Crohn's or the biologic the patient is on to treat the Crohn's. I
Those people have drug induced lupus. Generally, the anti-TNF is stopped because of the drug induced Lupus. Remicade causes it most often of the anti-TNFs, I believe.
Other biologics can also cause drug-induced lupus but I think it is much rarer. My daughter got drug induced lupus from Entyvio. She was her GI's first patient to get drug-induced Lupus from it. I'm not sure about Stelara but I'd assume it can also cause a positive ANA.
But you can also have a positive ANA and not have drug induced Lupus - it's either caused by the Crohn's or the biologic the patient is on to treat the Crohn's. I
Maya she has no other symptoms apart from fatigue, but GI has always put that down to low B12.
She was on remicade for 2 years but stopped about 6 months ago.
ENT got me worried saying the autoimmune disease she's looking for usually starts in the nose then goes to lungs and kidneys. From what I've read she must be looking for wegeners granulomatosis.....ok I'm not going to worry till we have results on Friday
She was on remicade for 2 years but stopped about 6 months ago.
ENT got me worried saying the autoimmune disease she's looking for usually starts in the nose then goes to lungs and kidneys. From what I've read she must be looking for wegeners granulomatosis.....ok I'm not going to worry till we have results on Friday
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If she's been off Remicade so long, then I would guess it's not the cause.
Wegner's is a type of vasculitis, if I remember correctly. Did she have test results suggesting kidney function was off? High creatinine?
Hang in there :ghug:.
Wegner's is a type of vasculitis, if I remember correctly. Did she have test results suggesting kidney function was off? High creatinine?
Hang in there :ghug:.
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Best to you
No infection or autoimmune disease was found on further testing of the biopsy. So they have no idea what's happening. They gave her a different nasal spray to try and if that doesn't work she'll be referred to someone who deals with autoimmune diseases. There was no mention of the high ana levels, will have to talk to GI and see what she says.
cmack
Well-known member
I hope you get a firm diagnosis soon, I really think you are doing the right things. Keep at it! Sometimes it's a real struggle to get to where you want to be, but it should all be worth it in the end. Best wishes to your family.
