Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2005;7(6):230-2.
doi: 10.1186/ar1836. Epub 2005 Sep 16.

Does a positive anti-CCP test identify a distinct arthritis entity?

Thomas Skogh  1
Affiliations

Does a positive anti-CCP test identify a distinct arthritis entity?

Thomas Skogh. Arthritis Res Ther. 2005.

Abstract

The introduction of tests recognizing 'anti-citrullinated protein antibodies' (ACPA) has caused a revolution in rheumatology. Immunization against citrullinated proteins is a feature almost unique for rheumatoid arthritis, although ACPA may occur long before the onset of symptoms. Even if the presence of ACPA does not seem to reveal a distinct arthritis phenotype at symptom onset, it predicts an aggressive disease course with unfavourable outcome. Despite the very high diagnostic specificity for rheumatoid arthritis, ACPA-positivity does not always accord with a traditional diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis at clinical presentation. However, even when these patients are judged to suffer from mild undifferentiated arthritis, they call for follow-up and special attention by rheumatologists.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. van der Helm-van Mil AHM, Verpoort KN, Breedveld FC, Toes REM, Huizinga TWJ. Antibodies to citrullinated proteins and differences in clinical progression of rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Res Ther. 2005;7:R949–R958. doi: 10.1186/ar1767. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Nijenhuis S, Zendman AJ, Vossenaar ER, Pruijn GJM, van Venrooij WJ. Autoantibodies to citrullinated proteins in rheumatoid arthritis: clinical performance and biochemical aspects of an RA-specific marker. Clin Chim Acta. 2004;350:17–34. doi: 10.1016/j.cccn.2004.07.016. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Padyukov L, Silva C, Stolt P, Alfredsson L, Klareskog L. A gene–environment interaction between smoking and shared epitope genes in HLA-DR provides a high risk of seropositive rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Rheum. 2004;50:3085–3092. doi: 10.1002/art.20553. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Linn-Rasker SP, van der Helm-van Mil AHM, van Gaalen FA, Kloppenburg M, De Vries R, le Cessie S, Breedveld FC, Toes REM, Huizinga TWJ. Smoking is a risk factor for anti-CCP antibodies only in RA patients that carry HLA-DRB1 shared epitope alleles. Ann Rheum Dis. 2005. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Forslind K, Ahlmen M, Eberhardt K, Hafstrom I, Svensson B. Prediction of radiological outcome in early rheumatoid arthritis in clinical practice: role of antibodies to citrullinated peptides (anti-CCP) Ann Rheum Dis. 2004;63:1090–1095. doi: 10.1136/ard.2003.014233. - DOI - PMC - PubMed