Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a systemic, chronic, inflammatory and autoimmune disease that often leads to joint destruction. RA is the most common inflammatory joint disease of the world. The diagnosis of this disease has been based primarily on clinical manifestation. However the highly variable and unpredictable course of the disease suggests the need for highly sensitive and specific diagnos...

Background Rheumatoid factor (RF) has been detected in several patients with psoriatic arthritis (PS). It is likely that its positivity linked to a very specific clinical, biological and/or evolutionary profile of PsA. Objectives The objective our study was evaluate the frequency positive rheumatoid during PsA, and define characteristics factors related this positivity. Methods Monocentric obse...

OBJECTIVES To determine the impact of baseline rheumatoid factor (RF) and anticyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) status on the clinical efficacy of intravenous abatacept in biologic-naïve patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) enrolled in the real-world ACTION study. METHODS Clinical outcomes (European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) response, mean Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDA...

OBJECTIVE Rheumatoid factor (RF) positivity that may occur in a number of patients with hepatitis B (HBV) infection poses challenges in terms of differential diagnosis with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). On the other hand, antibodies to cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) may prove to be an important marker for differential diagnosis of the two conditions. This study aimed to assess anti-CCP an...

BACKGROUND Viruses are common and are involved in the etiology of idiopathic rheumatological diseases. Hepatitis B virus (HBV), a member of the family Hepadnaviridae and hepatitis C virus (HCV), play an important role in the undetermined etiology of arthritis. The clinical manifestations of hepatitis B and C show similarities with various diseases, such as rheumatic diseases. Anti-cyclic citrul...

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic inflammatory autoimmune disease, characterized by chronic, erosive polyarthritis and by the presence of various autoantibodies in serum and synovial fluid. Since rheumatoid factor (RF) was first described, a number of other autoantibodies have been discovered in RA patients. The autoantigens recognized by these autoantibodies include cartilage components,...

OBJECTIVE Presence of extra-articular manifestations (EAM) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with more severe disease and increased mortality. Prevalence of EAM may vary in different geographic areas and in different ethnic populations. In this study we investigated the frequency of EAM in 526 RA patients from a single university hospital in Turkey. METHODS The hospital records of pa...

INTRODUCTION The aim of this study was to examine seroconversion and the relationship with age and inflammation of autoantibodies in a large group of patients attending an outpatient rheumatology clinic. METHODS Levels of antibodies to citrullinated proteins/peptides (ACPAs) and IgM rheumatoid factor (IgM-RF) were determined in 22,427 samples collected from 18,658 patients. The diagnosis was ...

The capacity for fixation and activation of hemolytic complement by polyclonal IgM rheumatoid factors (RF) isolated from sera of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and monoclonal IgM-RF isolated from the cryoprecipitates of patients with IgM-IgG mixed cryoglobulinemia was examined. RF mixed with aggregated, reduced, and alkylated human IgG (Agg-R/A-IgG) in the fluid phase failed to significantl...

UNLABELLED The diagnostic and prognostic value of the serial measurement of antibodies, such as rheumatoid factor (RF), anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP), and anti-citrullinated vimentin (anti-Sa) antibodies, has not been defined in early rheumatoid arthritis (ERA). OBJECTIVES To prospectively assess the presence of RF, anti-CCP, and anti-Sa in ERA patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS ...