Antinuclear antibodies (ANA), a marker of self-reactivity to DNA and other nuclear antigens, are present in several autoimmune diseases and have been observed in healthy persons in the absence of autoimmune disease. ANA prevalence is higher in women and older adults, but the health implications of ANA in middle- to older-aged adults are unknown. Immune system differences by sex may further result in sex-specific susceptibility to morbidity. In a cross-sectional analysis of data from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, we examined the sex-specific relationship between age and ANA as well as the associations (odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals) between ANA and type-2 diabetes and multimorbidity (2 or more chronic diseases), stratified by sex and controlling for age and race. ANA was measured in a 1:160 dilution of sera by immunofluorescence using HEp-2 cells (seropositive = 3 or 4). Overall ANA seroprevalence was 12% (15.1% in women, 8.8% in men). We observed a non-linear relationship between age and ANA that varied by sex (interaction p-value < 0.05), with a clear sex differences in younger participants (ages 48-59), which converged in the oldest (age 80+). ANA positive women had higher odds of type 2 diabetes (OR: 2.06, 95% confidence interval: 1.04, 4.07) and multimorbidity (OR: 2.47, 95% confidence interval 1.11, 5.50) than women who were ANA negative. No statistically significant associations were observed in men. Insight into differences in age-related ANA positivity and ANA associations with chronic diseases by sex is important for understanding the impact of immune dysregulation in aging individuals.

中文翻译：

---

老年人抗核抗体阳性与糖尿病和多发病之间关联的性别差异：巴尔的摩纵向年龄研究得出的结果。

抗核抗体（ANA）是对DNA和其他核抗原的自我反应的标志物，存在于几种自身免疫性疾病中，并且在没有自身免疫性疾病的健康人中已经观察到。女性和老年人中ANA的患病率较高，但是ANA对中老年人的健康影响尚不清楚。性别的免疫系统差异可能进一步导致特定性别的发病率易感性。在对巴尔的摩纵向年龄研究的数据进行的横断面分析中，我们检查了年龄与ANA之间的性别特异性关系，以及ANA与2型糖尿病和多发性疾病之间的关联（几率和95％置信区间） （2种或多种慢性疾病），按性别分层并控制年龄和种族。ANA的测量结果为1：使用HEp-2细胞通过免疫荧光法将血清稀释160倍（血清阳性= 3或4）。ANA的总体血清阳性率为12％（女性为15.1％，男性为8.8％）。我们观察到年龄与ANA之间的非线性关系随性别而变化（交互作用p值<0.05），年轻参与者（年龄在48-59岁之间）的性别差异明显，而年龄最大的参与者（年龄在80岁以上）则趋于一致。与ANA阴性的女性相比，ANA阳性女性的2型糖尿病（OR：2.06，95％置信区间：1.04、4.07）和多发性疾病（OR：2.47，95％置信区间1.11，5.50）的几率更高。在男性中未观察到统计学上显着的关联。对性别相关的年龄相关的ANA阳性和ANA与慢性疾病的关联的了解，对于理解免疫失调对衰老个体的影响非常重要。