Because of concerns about rising rates of autoimmunity and autoimmune diseases in the US and their possible associations with xenobiotics, we propose to perform similar studies as we have done before on NHANES samples on additional NHANES groups to: 1) assess changes over time in the prevalences of anti-nuclear autoantibodies (ANA); 2) evaluate the persistence of our prior sociodemographic associations with ANA; and 3) determine associations of ANA with additional environmental agents. These studies would use anonymized samples from participants age 12 years or older in NHANES III (phase I, 1988-1991) and NHANES 2011-2012 cohorts and findings from these investigations could serve as a basis for future prospective studies as needed.
