Before anti-TNF therapy, no patients had clinical sign of lupus, three had positive ANA (range 1/160–1/1280), one of these (the patient with the highest level of ANA) had one time a limit positive anti-dsDNA titre (ELISA test, 46 UI; normal value <40), and nine had negative results. This evidence concerns the gene TNF and systemic lupus erythematosus.