<b>Conclusions</b>: Despite individual increases in serum 14-3-3η, HMGB1, anti-CCP, anti-MCV and RF, the combination of anti-CCP and anti-MCV might be of great help for diagnostic in RA, and so should be considered as routine tests for this disease.
Our goal was to evaluate the significance of anti-CCP antibody in predicting the disease activity and progression in terms of radiological and extra-articular manifestations upon diagnosis.Of the 159 RA patients included in this study, mean age was 48.3 years old and majority (n = 134; 84.3%) were female.
Later, we selected only ten anti-CCP-positive RA patients, naïve to disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs and ten CS, all with known 1858C>T PTPN22 genotype.
To study the relationship between anti-CCP and disease activity, functional capacity and structural damage indexes, by means of conventional radiography (CR) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), in cases of established RA.
These results suggest that the changes in CDT and anti-CCP concentrations are not associated with oneself and indicate on the independence of these posttranslational modifications in rheumatoid arthritis.
Our results suggest that the T allele of the <i>TNFA</i> -857C/T SNP exerts an influence on anti-CCP levels and could be a candidate marker for anti-CCP-negative RA.
This study highlights the powerful accuracy of ddPCR for the quantification of CNVs and suggests that the variation in the CN of GSTM1 is associated with anti-CCP positivity in RA.
Thus, the combined presence of ACPAs and RF is associated with a more rapid progression to RA, suggesting that anti-CCP+/RF+ individuals have a more advanced preclinical disease state and that the onset of RA may be imminent.
No relation of miR-124 expression to measures of RA activity (DAS28 score; TSS), auto-antibodies (anti-CCP, RF, RF IgG, RF IgA, RF IgM), acute inflammatory markers (CRP, IL-6), and other cytokine and chemokines (IL-13, IL-15, IL-8, TNF-α, MCP-1, RANTES) was observed.
Positive and significant (p<0.05) correlation of circulating IL-1β levels with RF (r=0.232), anti-CCP (r=0.207) and CRP (r=0.166) among RA patients were found.
Further analysis in RA patients demonstrated that none of these SNPs were associated with rheumatoid factor (RF) or anti-citrullinated protein antibody (anti-CCP).
Our study confirmed the association of STAT4 rs7574865 polymorphism with RA and was the first to indicate an association with RF and anti-CCP antibodies positivity.
The highest quartile of anti-CCP antibody level (>300.6 U/ml) was the strongest predictor for multiple falls (odds ratio, 2.97; 95% confidence interval, 1.12-7.91, p = 0.029) among RA patients.
The GTG haplotype was also significantly associated with RA (OR=2.27 95%CI=1.18-4.41; p=0.008), but did not show association with levels of anti-CCP antibodies and clinical parameters.
The sensitivity of diagnosis of RA with finger joints damage with both HCDU and CCP antibody examination showed a significantly lower level compared with examination with each one of the methods alone, while specificity showed a significantly higher level.
Smoking >20 pack years conferred an increased risk of anti-CCP positive RA (158/200 (79%)), compared to having never smoked (146/235 (62%), p = <0.01), but this increased risk correlated with smokers' RF positivity as the principal determinant on subsequent regression analysis of cohort 2.