medical Definition of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody
: any of a group of autoantibodies that bind to cytoplasmic regions of neutrophils and are associated with diseases (such as Wegener's granulomatosis, Churg-Strauss syndrome, and polyarteritis nodosa) characterized by inflammation of small blood vessels
- A positive test for antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody may be associated with a vasculitis of the skin …
- —Barbara J. Rutledge, Skin and Allergy News, December 2007
- … a test that seeks the antineutrophilic cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA), and is generally diagnostic of vasculitis, but not specific enough to be definitive.
- —Robert G. Lahita and Ina L. Yalof, Women and Autoimmune Disease: The Mysterious Ways Your Body Betrays Itself, 2004
