Diagnostic performances of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies in rheumatoid arthritis

To evaluate the rheumatoid arthritis (RA) diagnostic performances of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies (anti-CCP). Anti-CCP was detected by an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay in 164 patients with RA and 343 controls. In addition, anti-CCP predictive value for radiological damage were investigated in 37 recent-onset RA patients followed up prospectively for 2 years. Radiological damages were assessed by Sharp method modified by van der Heijde. The sensitivity of anti-CCP was 78.7% and the specificity was 95.6%. The positive predictive value and the negative predictive value were 90.2% and 90.3%, respectively. Anti-CCP were detected in sera of 79.3% of patients with recent onset RA and 78.3% of patients with long disease duration. In univariate and multivariate analyses, anti-CCP were not predictive for radiological damage. Our study confirms the high diagnostic performances of anti-CCP in RA. They are very useful to aid the diagnostic of RA in clinical practice.