The period of time that auto-antibodies related to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are present before the disease is diagnosed increases with age, say scientists.
It was recently discovered that the appearance of RA is typically preceded by a chronic period of sub-clinical immune dysfunction. This has led to intense research into the interactions between environmental factors such as age and gender and the risk factors that predict RA, such as anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP).
Michael Holers (University of Colorado, Denver, USA) and team measured concentrations of anti-CCP as well as rheumatoid factor in serum taken from 243 randomly selected individuals from the USA.
Of the study participants, 83 went on to develop RA. Further analysis of this group revealed that 61% had anti-CCP in their serum before diagnosis and 57% tested positive for rheumatoid factor. Indeed, in every case the development of RA was preceded by the production of anti-RA antibodies.
The researchers found that neither age nor gender predicted the likelihood of an individual having RA-related antibodies prior to diagnosis, whereas duration of pre-clinical positivity for such antibodies was significantly and positively associated with age at eventual diagnosis.
"This new finding suggests that factors such as genetic risk, environmental exposures, and immune system senescence may influence the temporal relationship between the development of preclinical RA-related auto-antibodies and age at symptom onset," write the investigators in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
Calling for further prospective studies to define these factors, the authors suggest that their findings also have implications for the use of autoantibodies as biomarkers of RA risk.
http://www.medwire-news.md/437/75293/Bone_Health/Age_alters_appearance_of_RA-related_antibodies.html
Hi Lynn ( another one....lolol). Am I understanding this right? Out of 243 randomly selected people, 83 went on to develop RA??? I am having trouble with that percentage given statistics on RA per head of population.
I have to wonder too, if testing for rheumatoid factor should be a regular thing in the over 40's ' warrant of fitness' annual blood tests. Or maybe it already is??
Interesting.