BACKGROUND To determine the prevalence and significance of anti-citrullinated vimentin and anti-citrullinated type II collagen antibodies and elucidate their role in the disease process of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). METHODS Sera were obtained from 95 patients with various subtypes of JIA, 19 systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients, and 10 healthy children. Antibodies were measur...

BACKGROUND Several studies have noted the significance of measuring anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP) antibodies in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) as an important indicator for destructive disease, as is the case in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). While the role of anti-CCP antibodies in RA and JIA has become better understood, the identity of the target proteins of this modification has ...

Objective. To investigate whether citrullinated proteins within the atherosclerotic plaque can be targeted by anti–citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPAs), forming stimulatory immune complexes that propagate the progression of atherosclerosis. Methods. Protein lysates prepared from atherosclerotic segments of human aorta were assessed for the presence of citrulline-modified proteins, and speci...

Autoimmune responses against posttranslationally modified antigens are a hallmark of several autoimmune diseases. For example, antibodies against citrullinated protein antigens (ACPA) have shown their relevance for the prognosis and diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and have been implicated in disease pathogenesis. It is conceivable that other autoantibody systems, recognizing other postt...

Anti-citrullinated protein antibodies are primarily associated with a progressive course in the autoimmune disease rheumatoid arthritis, a disease with a chronic and inflammatory nature. These antibodies do not appear to have any strict dependency for reactivity except from the presence of the non-genetically encoded amino acid citrulline, which is the result of a posttranslational modification...

INTRODUCTION Epstein-Barr virus exposure appears to be an environmental trigger for rheumatoid arthritis that interacts with other risk factors. Relationships among anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies, the shared epitope, and smoking status have been observed in patients with rheumatoid arthritis from different populations. OBJECTIVE To perform an association analysis of anti-Epstein...

INTRODUCTION Anti-citrullinated protein/peptide antibodies (ACPAs) are highly specific to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and are thought to have a close relationship with the pathogenesis of arthritis. Several proteins, including fibrinogen, vimentin, and alpha-enolase, were reported as ACPA-target antigens, and their importance in RA pathogenesis was widely proposed. We identified citrulli...