Diagnostic value of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

ABSTRACT

Anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide [anti-CCP] antibodies are highly specific markers for rheumatoid arthritis [RA] and useful for predicting rheumatoid arthritis [RA] development and progression. We assessed the diagnostic value of anti-CCP antibodies in our patients with RA. Anti-CCP antibodies and rheumatoid factor [RF] titers were determined in 247 serum samples 128 from RA patients, 119 from control group p48 from healthy controls, 71 from patients with rheumatic disease other than RA or hematologic malignancies. There were 128 [93 females, 35 males] patients with rheumatoid arthritis and 119 [78 females, 41 males ] controls. The sensitivity of Anti-CCP was 66.40% for diagnosis of RA with a specificity of 94.11%. The sensitivity of RF was 69.53% and its specificity was 81.51% In our patients Anti-CCP has a moderate sensitivity but high specificity for diagnosis of RA