《Anti-CCP antibody testing as a diagnostic and prognostic tool in rheumatoid arthritis》.pdf

Q J Med 2007; 100:193–201 doi:10.1093/qjmed/hcm015 Review Anti-CCP antibody testing as a diagnostic and prognostic tool in rheumatoid arthritis T.B. NIEWOLD, M.J. HARRISON and S.A. PAGET From the Department of Rheumatology, Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY, USA Summary Rheumatoid arthritis is both common and chronic, disease process, and ability to identify patients who with significant consequences for multiple organ are likely to have severe disease and irreversible systems. Better understanding of its pathophysiology damage. However, its sensitivity is low, and a has led to the development of targeted therapies that negative result does not exclude disease. Anti-CCP have dramatically improved outcomes. The key to antibodies have not been found at a significant therapeutic success lies in identifying individuals frequency in other diseases to date, and are more who will have severe destructive disease as early as specific than rheumatoid factor for detecting rheu- possible, so that effective treatment can be initiated matoid arthritis. We discuss anti-CCP antibody before irreversible damage occurs. Anti-cyclic testing in rheumatoid arthritis, with an emphasis citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) antibody testing is on diagnostic performance, prognostic capability, particularly useful in the diagnosis of rheumatoid and relevance to pathogenesis and new treatment arthritis, with high specificity, presence early in the paradigms in rheumatoid arthritis. Introduction Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a severe, progres- complicated by moderate sensitivity and specificity, sive, systemic inflammatory disease of unknown and high rates of positivity in other chronic aetiology. The morbidity and