The positivity of rheumatoid factor and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody in nonarthritic patients with chronic hepatitis C infection
Orge E et al. – Study demonstrates that cyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP) antibody (a highly specific biomarker for rheumatoid arthritis in the general population) is a more useful test than rheumatoid factor (RF) among patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection without arthritis.Methods- Aim was to determine whether CCP Ab was useful for the diagnosis of RA in nonarthritic pts with HCV
- Blood samples obtained from:
- 39 pts with chronic HCV infection
- 87 normal sera from volunteer blood donors, and
- 108 blood samples from pts with RA, from the rheumatology clinic
- RF was measured using the Dade-Behring nephelometer
- Abs to CCP were measured with ELISA
Results- Sensitivity, specificity and positive predictive value of the anti-CCP test was superior to the RF test
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