Antibodies against citrullinated proteins are specific and predictive markers for rheumatoid arthritis although the pathologic relevance of these antibodies remains unclear. To investigate the significance of these autoantibodies, collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) in mice was used to establish an animal model of antibody reactivity to citrullinated proteins. DBA/1J mice were immunized with bovin...

Antibodies to citrullinated peptides are highly specific for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and represent a significant risk factor for undifferentiated polyarthritis. This prognostic ability may be related to the very diagnostic performance of these autoantibodies, since RA is a more erosive disease than other forms of arthritis. The present study evaluated an association of antibodies to citrullin...

Antibodies to citrullinated proteins (anti-cyclic-citrullinated peptide [anti-CCP] antibodies) are highly specific for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and precede the onset of disease symptoms, indicating a pathogenetic role for these antibodies in RA. We recently showed that distinct genetic risk factors are associated with either anti-CCP-positive disease or anti-CCP-negative disease. These data ar...

Immunoglobulin Binding Protein (BiP) is a member of heat shock protein 70 famaily, and is also known as an autoantigen in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. Serum anti-BiP antibody is detected up to 60% of RA patients, and recent reports demonstrated that serum anti-BiP antibody is also detected in systemic lupus erythematosus patients. Notably, anti-citrullinated BiP antibody is revealed as a...

We studied the diagnostic performance of the anti-human citrullinated fibrinogen antibody (AhFibA) ELISA for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in a consecutive cohort (population 1) and evaluated the agreement between the AhFibA ELISA and four other assays for anti-citrullinated protein/peptide antibodies (ACPAs) as well as rheumatoid factor in patients with longstanding RA (population 2). Population 1...

Antibodies to citrullinated proteins/peptides (ACPAs) are the second serological marker to have recently been included in the 2010 ACR/EULAR Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) Classification Criteria, which are focused on early diagnosis and therapy. This review discusses their history and some clinical aspects of ACPAs, focusing on the diagnostic utility of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) ...

OBJECTIVE To study the value of antibodies to citrullinated proteins/peptides for predicting joint outcomes in patients with recent onset rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS 191 patients with RA onset within the past year were followed up prospectively for five years. Serum samples obtained from 145 patients at baseline before disease modifying antirheumatic drug treatment were examined using ...

In the last years, the detection of antibodies (Abs) against citrullinated peptides (ACPA) has largely replaced rheumatoid factor (RF) as the most helpful biomarker in the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Current assays detect ACPA reactivity with epitopes on various different citrullinated proteins. Among these, anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP) Abs have been widely demonstrated t...

OBJECTIVE Citrullinated proteins have been found within atherosclerotic plaque. However, studies evaluating the association between anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPAs) and imaging measures of atherosclerosis in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have been limited to seroreactive citrullinated fibrinogen or citrullinated vimentin and have rendered contradictory results. Therefore,...

The existence of autoantibodies against citrullinated proteins was first described in the 1970s in the patients with rheumatoid arthritis. This time the biochemical basis of antibody reactivity against antigens called keratin, and filaggrin was investigated. It is recognized now that during several natural processes such as apoptosis and some inflammatory processes, an enzyme called Peptidyl ar...