Patients with inflammatory arthritis who have anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) antibodies have more severe disease and show less benefit from treatment than those who are antibody negative, British researchers found.
At baseline, antibody positive patients had higher disease activity scores (4.4 versus 3.73, P<0.001) regardless of whether they were also positive for rheumatoid factor, according to Tracey M. Farragher, PhD, of the University of Manchester, and colleagues.
At five years, disease activity scores among patients who had the anti-CCP antibodies remained higher (4.41 versus 3.76, P<0.001) and patients had greater functional disability, the researchers reported in the May issue of Arthritis Care & Research.
In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to a potential role for anti-CCP antibodies in the diagnosis and classification of inflammatory arthritis, with some studies suggesting that these antibodies are a more sensitive biomarker than rheumatoid factor, which is the marker used in the diagnostic criteria of the American College of Rheumatology.
But few studies have compared the utility of the two types of antibodies in association with clinical outcomes such as disease activity, functional disability, and response to treatment.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Rheumatology/Arthritis/20094