Fig. 1

Anti-rods/rings seropositivity detected by the ANA-IIF assay. Fifty-two Italian HCV patients were subjected to the antinuclear antibody indirect immunofluorescence (ANA-IIF) assay. Anti-rods/rings autoantibody was detected in 10 of 52 patients (19%), shown by the ‘rods and rings’ ANA pattern in patient codes C1TN, FV1S, TBN1S, VA1S, TG1TO, SL1G, VG1G, MS1G, RC1G, and CB1G. Arrows point to examples of rods, which are most often observed in cytoplasmic and perinuclear regions (see C1TN, RC1G, or CB1G for examples of perinuclear rods). Arrowheads point to rings, which may sometimes appear twisted into a “hairpin” shape, as in the bottom left corner of the panel TG1TO. CD2T and E1TN are negative for anti-rods/rings and are included for comparison. CD2T contains no detectable autoantibody reactivity, while E1TN displays the nuclear speckled ANA pattern. All panels shown are of sera tested at 1:80 dilution and detected by donkey anti-human IgG conjugated to DyLight 488. All images were taken with a 40× objective