Anti-Deoxyribonuclease B Antibody (Anti-DNaseB)

Group A streptococci produce four types of deoxyribonuclease, namely, A, B, C and D. Type B is the most important among them because almost all of group A streptococci produce this antigen in a larger amount than the others. DNase B is also produced by a few strains of Group C and G streptococci. Thus, the determination of Anti-deoxyribonuclease B is particularly important in the diagnosis of streptococcal infections.The changing pattern of antibody to anti-DNase B is comparable to that of anti-streptolysin O(ASO) in any given case. However, anti-DNase B determination offers the following advantages: 1)A strong elevation of the antibody is observed in cases with streptococcal skin disease, whereas ASO titer rarely shows high levels.2)anti-DNase B level shows in acute rheumatic fever, acute glomerulonephritis and other streptococcal infections.