Anti-dsDNA Antibody (quantitative)

Antibodies that target your own DNA. A positive result is linked to lupus, and in people with lupus the level is sometimes followed over time.

AI-verified against cited sources. Awaiting expert reviewAlso called anti-dsDNA, dsDNA, dsDNA AbLOINC 5130-0

Check your result

Your Anti-dsDNA result

Sex (optional)

Age (optional)

Type your result to see where it falls.

Nothing you type here leaves your browser.

What it is

Double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) is the genetic material inside your cells. In some autoimmune conditions, mainly systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus), the immune system makes antibodies that bind to it. This test measures how much of these antibodies is in your blood. Labs use different methods, such as ELISA and fluorescence immunoassays. Each has its own scale and cutoff, so results from different labs are not directly comparable.

Why it matters

Anti-dsDNA is one of the lab findings clinicians weigh when they look at whether symptoms fit lupus. In the 2019 EULAR/ACR lupus classification criteria, a positive anti-dsDNA is worth 6 of the 10 points needed, and a positive ANA test is required first. Those criteria are built mainly for research, and not everyone with lupus tests positive. In people who already have lupus, higher levels are linked to more active disease, especially kidney involvement, so clinicians sometimes repeat the test along with complement and urine tests.

If it’s high

Your lab reports a result above its cutoff as positive. Positive results are most often linked to lupus, and higher levels are more common during active disease and kidney involvement. A positive result is not a diagnosis by itself. Weak positives are also seen in people who do not have lupus, so clinicians read the result together with your symptoms, an ANA test, complement levels and urine tests.

Common causes

A weak or borderline positive on an ELISA, which is less specific and is seen in some people without lupus
Systemic lupus erythematosus, especially during active disease or when the kidneys are involved
Another autoimmune connective tissue condition that overlaps with lupus

What can help

Ask how this result fits with your ANA, complement levels, urine tests and symptoms
Ask whether a second test using a different method, such as the Crithidia luciliae test, would add information
If you already have lupus, ask how often this test should be repeated

Usual ranges

What labs print as the reference range, by who was tested. Ranges differ a little between labs, so the range on your own report is the one your result is judged against.

For adults: 0–4 IU/mL. Source: UI Health Care (University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics) Laboratory Services Handbook, ARUP Laboratories, Mayo Clinic Laboratories (Extended Catalog).

Adults (this one applies)0–4 IU/mL
Sources: UI Health Care (University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics) Laboratory Services Handbook, ARUP Laboratories, Mayo Clinic Laboratories (Extended Catalog)

What can affect your result

Test method: ELISA, fluorescence immunoassays, the Crithidia luciliae test and the older Farr assay differ in sensitivity and specificity
Lab and kit: each uses its own scale and cutoff, so compare your result only with the range on your own report
Disease activity: levels are generally higher when lupus is active, especially with kidney involvement
Not everyone with lupus has this antibody, so a negative result does not rule lupus out
Results from different methods (ELISA, fluorescence immunoassay, Crithidia luciliae immunofluorescence, Farr assay) are not interchangeable, because they differ in sensitivity, specificity and cutoffs.
Weak ELISA positives are less specific. Some ELISA-positive samples are negative on the Crithidia luciliae test, which is why ARUP reflexes positive ELISA results to that test.
Plasma and hemolyzed or severely lipemic samples are rejected by ARUP for this test.

When to talk to a clinician

A positive anti-dsDNA result is not an emergency by itself. Talk with a clinician soon if you have it along with symptoms such as joint pain or swelling, a rash, mouth sores, fever, unusual tiredness, foamy or bloody urine, or swelling in the legs or around the eyes. Call 911 or your local emergency number for chest pain, trouble breathing, confusion or a seizure.

Questions you could ask

Is it useful to repeat this test, and how often?
What does this result mean together with my ANA, complement and urine tests?
Would a second test with a different method add information?

Questions people ask

Does a positive anti-dsDNA result mean I have lupus?

Not by itself. The antibody is linked to lupus and is one of several findings clinicians weigh, along with symptoms, an ANA test, complement levels and urine tests. Weak positives are also seen in some people without lupus.

Can I have lupus with a negative result?

Yes. Only some people with lupus have anti-dsDNA antibodies, and how often they are found depends on the test method. In the group used to build the 2019 lupus criteria, about three in four people with lupus were positive.

Why does another lab use a different cutoff?

Each lab uses a test kit with its own scale. For example, ARUP reports 24 IU/mL or less as negative, Mayo Clinic Laboratories reports below 100, and a university hospital lab reports 4 or less. Compare your result with the range printed on your own report.

Show the science and sources

For clinicians and researchers

Anti-dsDNA IgG targets native double-stranded DNA and is a classification criterion for SLE. Assay families include the Farr radioimmunoassay, Crithidia luciliae indirect immunofluorescence (CLIFT), ELISA and other solid-phase immunoassays (fluorescence enzyme, chemiluminescence, multiplex). They differ in sensitivity, specificity and clinical correlation. The 2019 EULAR/ACR criteria give anti-dsDNA 6 points, in the same domain as anti-Sm, after a positive ANA (at least 1:80 on HEp-2 cells), and ask for an assay with at least 90% specificity against relevant disease controls, judged at group level (Aringer 2019; Infantino 2022). In the disease cohort used to establish the 2019 criteria, anti-dsDNA had about 75.6% sensitivity and 93.7% specificity (Infantino 2022). The 2012 SLICC criteria advised counting an ELISA result as positive only when it is at least twice the cutoff, because low positives are less specific. In a head-to-head study of two modern assays in 41 patients with lupus and 51 controls, specificity was 90% and 95.9% and sensitivity 51% and 38% (Frontiers in Immunology 2023). That paper describes anti-dsDNA levels as generally correlating with disease activity and lupus nephritis, but with lupus and control patients analyzed together it found only weak correlations with CRP and C4 and no other significant correlations with clinical or laboratory findings. Cutoffs are assay-specific. ARUP (ELISA, reflex to CLIFT) reports 24 IU/mL or less as negative, 25 to 30 borderline positive, above 30 up to 60 low positive, above 60 up to 200 positive and above 200 strong positive. Mayo Clinic Laboratories (ELISA) reports below 100 IU/mL as negative and describes the test as useful for evaluating suspected lupus and for following people who were previously positive. University of Iowa Hospitals (multiplex immunoassay) reports 4 IU/mL or less as negative, 5 to 9 as indeterminate and 10 or more as positive. The ACR advises against anti-dsDNA testing in ANA-negative patients without clinical features of autoimmune disease (ARUP Consult).

LOINC 5130-0 (primary), 33799-8, 32677-7, 58465-6. Specimen: serum.

Sources

Double-Stranded DNA (dsDNA) Antibody, IgG by ELISA with Reflex to dsDNA Antibody, IgG by IFA (test 0050215), ARUP Laboratories
Double-Stranded DNA (dsDNA) Antibodies, IgG, Serum (test ADNA1), Mayo Clinic Laboratories (Extended Catalog)
2019 European League Against Rheumatism/American College of Rheumatology classification criteria for systemic lupus erythematosus, Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2019)
Anti-dsDNA antibodies in the classification criteria of systemic lupus erythematosus, Journal of Translational Autoimmunity (2022)
Comparative analysis of contemporary anti-double stranded DNA antibody assays for systemic lupus erythematosus, Frontiers in Immunology (2023)
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, ARUP Consult
Double Stranded DNA Antibody, UI Health Care (University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics) Laboratory Services Handbook

AI-verified against cited sources. Awaiting expert review. Last reviewed 2026-10-03. How we build and check these pages.