Determination of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies in the sera of patients with liver diseases.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

To determine the frequency of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) antibodies in patients with HCV infection, primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) and type-I autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) to assess the specificity of anti-CCP antibodies.

METHODS:

Rheumatoid factor (RF) and anti-CCP antibodies were measured in the sera from patients with HCV infection (n=45), PBC (n=73), AIH (n=55) and rheumatoid arthritis (n=48), and also from the sera of healthy subjects (n=23). Anti-CCP antibodies were measured using a second generation enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

RESULTS:

No sera with elevated anti-CCP were found in the patients with HCV infection. Two PBC patients (2.7%) and six AIH patients (10.5%) had anti-CCP antibodies. The seropositivity for anti-CCP in these autoimmune disease patients was associated with a high frequency of RA association [PBC; 100% (2/2), AIH; 86.4% (5/6)].

CONCLUSIONS:

Although anti-CCP antibodies may be present in patients with autoimmune liver diseases, almost seropositive patients had concomitant RA. As a result, the measurement of anti-CCP antibodies may therefore be helpful for accurately diagnosing RA in patients with these liver diseases.

• Authors: T Koga, K Migita, T Miyashita, Y Maeda, M Nakamura, S Abiru, M Myoji, A Komori, K Yano, H Yatsuhashi, K Eguchi, H Ishibashi
• Journal: Clinical and experimental rheumatology (Clin Exp Rheumatol) 2008 Jan-Feb Vol. 26 Issue 1 Pg. 121-4 ISSN: 0392-856X [Print] Italy
• PMID: 18328158 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Autoantibodies
• Peptides, Cyclic
• cyclic citrullinated peptide
• Rheumatoid Factor

Topics

• Antibody Specificity
• Arthritis, Rheumatoid (diagnosis, immunology)
• Autoantibodies (analysis)
• Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
• Hepatitis C (immunology)
• Hepatitis, Autoimmune (immunology)
• Humans
• Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary (immunology)
• Liver Diseases (complications, immunology)
• Peptides, Cyclic (immunology)
• Rheumatoid Factor (analysis)