Objective To investigate the clinical significance of antinucleosome antibody (AnuA) in the patients with lupus erythematosus (LE) through detecting the serum level of AnuA in different types of LE patients before and after treatment. Methods Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) was used to detect the serum level of AnuA in 31 SLE patients, 26 SCLE patients, 7 DLE patients, 6 scleroderma patients, 5 dermatomyositis patients and 30 healthy controls. Among them, the serum levels of AnuA before and after treatment were detected in 15 SLE patients and 10 SCLE patients. Clinical data, laboratory test results and the scores of SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI) were analyzed with SPSS11.0 software. Results The serum levels of AnuA in SLE patients were higher than those in SCLE, DLE, scleroderma, dermatomyositis patients and healthy controls(P