3/2007Anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies (anti-CCP2)in patients without diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis

BARBARA NIERADKO-IWANICKA (Katedra i Zakład Higieny Akademii Medycznej w Lublinie; Kierownik: dr hab. med. Andrzej Borzęcki)

Background
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic, autoimmune connective tissue disease. It affects 0.8% of adult Europeans leading to disability and premature deaths. Patients who visit their family doctors present early symptoms of the disease cannot be easily diagnosed as they often do not meet the RA criteria by ACR. Thus serologic tests detecting rheumatoid factors (RF) are valuable for that purpose. Unfortunately, the classical RFs are not very specific for RA and can be positive in many other diseases. Rheumatologists recommend the second generation of anti-CCP antibodies as the marker of choice for diagnosing early RA in both asymptomatic and in patients with undifferentiated arthritis as the level of anti-CCP2 correlates with progression to erosive disease.

Material and methods
Anti-CCP2 was determined in sera of the 42 patients of the NZOZ Familmed in Lublin with ELISA commercial kit manufactured by Euroimmun (Germany). The procedure was done according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Results
Slightly positive level of anti-CCP2 (5–19 RU/ml) was found in 1 patient, medium (20–79 RU/ml) in 2, and high (> 80 RU/ml) in 1 patient.

Key words: anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies (anti-CCP2), rheumatoid arthritis (RA)