Description:
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>The anti‐Mi‐2 antibody is a dermatomyositis (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">DM</jats:styled-content>)‐specific autoantibody. It is thought to be associated with photosensitivity in patients with <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">DM</jats:styled-content> because higher expression levels of Mi‐2 antigens have been found in <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">UV</jats:styled-content>‐irradiated cultured cells and because epidemiological studies have supported this association. This study aims to identify the relations between anti‐Mi‐2 antibody titers measured by <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">ELISA</jats:styled-content> and clinical characteristics in patients with <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">DM</jats:styled-content>. We focused on analyzing associations between anti‐Mi‐2 antibody titers and cutaneous manifestations. This retrospective analysis covered 160 adult <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">DM</jats:styled-content> patients. Anti‐Mi‐2 antibodies were detected by an in‐house <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">ELISA</jats:styled-content>, and anti‐Mi‐2 titers were measured by a manufactured <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">ELISA</jats:styled-content>. Twelve of the 160 (7.5%) patients were anti‐Mi‐2 positive. The anti‐Mi‐2‐positive patients showed extremely elevated muscle enzyme levels (<jats:italic>P</jats:italic> < 0.0001), less frequent interstitial lung disease complication (<jats:italic>P</jats:italic> = 0.031), and favorable survival rate (100%) (<jats:italic>P</jats:italic> = 0.07). No correlations were found between anti‐Mi‐2 antibody titers and clinical characteristics or skin manifestations, including photosensitive rashes. Further investigation is necessary to elucidate the pathological significance of the anti‐Mi‐2 antibody in <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">DM</jats:styled-content>.</jats:p>