Warm packs relieve discomfort. Normal results Normal results will be negative, showing no antinuclear antibodies. A positive test in a person with symptoms of an autoimmune or rheumatic disease helps the physician make a diagnosis. Several factors must be considered when interpreting a positive test. Diseases other than autoimmune diseases can cause autoantibodies.
Some healthy people have a positive test.
More testing is done after a positive test to identify individual autoantibodies associated with the various diseases. Antibody A special protein built by the immune system as a defense against foreign material entering the body. Autoantibody An antibody that attacks the body's own cells or tissues. Antinuclear antibodies Autoantibodies that attack substances found in the center, or nucleus, of all cells. Autoimmune disease Disease in which the body makes antibodies against its own cells or tissues.