Anti-citrullinated protein antibodies are linked to erosive disease in an observational study of patients with psoriatic arthritis

Background:In the idividuals with genetic and enviromental risk factors, immune events at mucosal surfaces occur and may precede systemic autoimmunity. Anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA) are present in the serum for an average of 3-5 years prior to the onset of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) during an asymptomatic period. In ACPA-positivite individuals, the additional presence of RA-related risk factors appears to add significant power for the development of RA. To date, there have been few reports in which clinical courses of ACPA-positive asymptomatic individuals were investigated prospectively.Objectives:To observe the clinical time course of ACPA-positive healthy population for the development of RA.Methods:Healthy volunteers without joint pain or stiffness, who attended the comprehensive health screening of our hospital, were enrolled in this prospective observational study. The serum ACPA levels were quantified by Ig-G anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with levels > 4.4 U/mL considered positive. ACPA-positive subjects were followed by rheumatologists of our department clinically or a questionnaire sent by mail for screening to detect arthritis.Results:5,971 healthy individuals without joint symptons were included. Ninty-two (1.5%) were positive for ACPA. Of these, 19 (20.7%) developed RA and two were suspected as RA by mail questionnaire. Their average age were 58-years, and women were 68%. The average duration between the date of serum sampling and diagnosis was 10.7 months. ACPA-positive individuals who developed to RA had higher serum ACPA and Ig-M rheumatoid factor levels than ACPA-positive individuals who did not (P value by Mann-Whitney U test: 0.002, 0.005, respectively).Conclusion:Among ACPA-positive asymptomatic individuals, 20% developed RA. The higher titer of ACPA and Ig-M rheumatoid factor levels are risk factors for devoloping RA.Disclosure of Interests:None declared

Download Full-text

AB0676 THE ROLE OF ACPA AND ANA IN SPONDYLOARTHRITIS: HOW THE AUTOIMMUNE DYSREGULATION CAN AFFECT THE COURSE OF DISEASE AND THERAPEUTIC SUCCESS OF MONOTHERAPY DMARDS AND bDMARDs

Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases ◽

10.1136/annrheumdis-2020-eular.4526 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 79 (Suppl 1) ◽

pp. 1633.1-1633

Author(s):

D. Cici ◽

C. Rotondo ◽

A. Corrado ◽

S. Berardi ◽

N. Mansueto ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Psoriatic Arthritis ◽

Start Time ◽

Disease Manifestation ◽

Therapeutic Success ◽

Course Of Disease ◽

Drug Survival ◽

Comorbidity Index ◽

Citrullinated Protein ◽

Axial Involvement

Background:Occasional findings of anti-citrullinated-protein-antibodies (ACPA) and anti-nuclear-antibodies (ANA) were rarely described in literature on Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA) and on Spondyloarthritis (SpA) in general. How these autoimmune dysregulations can affect the course of them is not yet understood.Objectives:The aim of our study is to evaluate if the presence of ACPA and ANA can determine different disease subsets and influence the DMARDs monotherapy (methotrexate) drug survival (DSM) and b-DMARDs multi-failure patients (MF).Methods:We conducted a retrospective study on patients with Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA) and Spondyloarthritis that fulfilled the ASAS and CASPAR criteria. Patients with diagnosis of connective tissue disease and rheumatoid arthritis and patients ≤ 18 years old were excluded from the study. For each patient, the following variables were considered: age, ACPA, ANA, time between arthritis onset and start of DMARDs (start-time), DSM, switch to b-DMARDs (sw-bDMARDs), arthritis subset (oligoarticular (OA), polyarticular (PA), enthesitis (EA), axial involvement (AI)), number of comorbidities (NC), Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI).Results:150 patients (55% with PsA and 45% with another SpA) were included in the study. No differences were found in age, ANA rate, ACPA rate, start-time, OA, PA, EA, AI, NC and CCI between the PsA and SpA groups.In the whole group of patients, the ACPA+ subjects(11%) had a significant increase of NC (2.47 ± 1.5 vs 1.6 ± 1.4, p=0.035), a trend to higher CCI, to switch to b-DMARDs, and to be MF compared to those without ACPA. In the same group, the ANA+ patients (12%) showed shorter DSM (233.5 wk ± 45.9 vs 548.0 wk ± 56.8, p=0.362) with similar trend in each subgroup (PsA and SpA).In SpA group, the ACPA+ patients(6,3%) had a trend to shorter DSM (269.0 weeks ± 125vs 603.96 wk± 92.8, p=0.492),to higher sw-bDMARDs, and to be MF, higher NC and CCI compared to those without ACPA. No differences in clinical subset (OA, PA, EA, AI) were observed. In the same group the ANA+ patients had significant higher rate of PA (100% vs 65%, p=0.026) rather than OA (0% vs 35%, p=0.025). No significant differences were found in NC, CCI, MF.In the PsA group, ACPA+ patients showed a trend to develop PA and EA subsets, shorter DSM (187.5 wk ± 48.7 vs 299.6 wk ± 31.4, p=0.415), higher rate to sw-bDMARDs and to be MF. The ANA+ PsA patients had higher trend to develop PA and AI subsets rather than OA and EA. All ANA+ patients were MF (100% vs 42%, p=0.046).Conclusion:The ACPA and ANA positivity in PsA and SpA patients could be suggestive of more severe clinical disease manifestation, higher frequency of comorbidities and lower predicted 10-year survival (CCI). Moreover, this autoimmune dysregulation could be associated with worse drug survival in monotherapy with methotrexate and higher chance to be MF. Therefore, they can be taken into account for clinical management of these patients.Disclosure of Interests:None declared

Download Full-text

Do all anti-citrullinated protein/peptide antibody tests measure the same? Evaluation of discrepancy between anti-citrullinated protein/peptide antibody tests in patients with and without rheumatoid arthritis

Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases ◽

10.1136/ard.2007.071654 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 67 (4) ◽

pp. 542-546 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

B Vander Cruyssen ◽

L Nogueira ◽

J Van Praet ◽

D Deforce ◽

D Elewaut ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Rheumatoid Arthritis ◽

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus ◽

Psoriatic Arthritis ◽

Lupus Erythematosus ◽

Systemic Lupus ◽

Human Fibrinogen ◽

Peptide Antibody ◽

Test Variability ◽

Antibody Tests ◽

Citrullinated Protein

Background:Different methods exist to demonstrate anti-citrullinated protein/peptide antibodies (ACPA).Aims:To evaluate discrepancy between four ACPA tests.Patients and methods:Population 1 consisted of patients with a new diagnostic problem, including 86 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and 450 patients without RA. Population 2 consisted of 155 patients with RA who had long-standing disease. Population 3 consisted of 188 patients with psoriatic arthritis and in population 4 there were 192 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Populations 1 and 2 were tested with the anti-human fibrinogen antibody (AhfibA) test, anti-CCP2 from Eurodiagnostica (CCP2-euro), anti-CCP2 from Pharmacia (CCP2-phar) and anti-CCP3 test by Inova (CCP3). Samples were annotated as discrepant if positive in one and negative in at least one other test. Each discrepant sample was re-analysed in a different run. Populations 3 and 4 were analysed in the CCP2-euro and AhFibA test.Results:In population 1, ACPA positivity was found in 17 of 450 (3.8%) patients without RA; 14 (82%) of these 17 samples were discrepant. In contrast, 61 of 86 (70.9%) patients with RA were ACPA positive of whom 18 of 61 (29.5%) were discrepant (70.9% vs. 29.5%, p<0.001). The discrepancies between tests could be partly attributed to borderline results, inter-assay discrepancy and inter-test variability. They were more prevalent in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus who were ACPA positive than in those with psoriatic arthritis who were ACPA positive.Conclusions:Discrepancy between different ACPA tests was observed attributable to the occurrence of borderline results, inter-assay variability and mainly to inter-test variability. The lowest inter-test discrepancy is observed between tests that use the same substrate.

Download Full-text

Psoriatic Nail Dystrophy Is Associated with Erosive Disease in the Distal Interphalangeal Joints in Psoriatic Arthritis: A Retrospective Cohort Study

The Journal of Rheumatology ◽

10.3899/jrheum.180796 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 46 (9) ◽

pp. 1097-1102 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Anna S. Antony ◽

Andrew Allard ◽

Adwaye Rambojun ◽

Christopher R. Lovell ◽

Gavin Shaddick ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Psoriatic Arthritis ◽

Joint Space Narrowing ◽

Joint Space ◽

Joint Disease ◽

Nail Dystrophy ◽

Chi Square ◽

Convenience Sample ◽

Radiographic Damage ◽

Erosive Disease ◽

Distal Interphalangeal

Objective.To assess whether the association between psoriatic nail dystrophy and radiographic damage in the hands of patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is specific to the distal interphalangeal (DIP) joints.Methods.A convenience sample of patients was collated from the Bath longitudinal PsA cohort. All patients had PsA according to the ClASsification for Psoriatic ARthritis criteria (CASPAR) criteria, scored radiographs of their hands, and documented nail scores as measured by the Psoriatic Nail Severity Score. Chi-square tests were performed to examine for association between features of nail dystrophy and radiographic damage in the DIP joints, and proximal interphalangeal or metacarpophalangeal (non-DIP) joints of the corresponding digits.Results.There were 134 patients included, with a median age of 53 years (interquartile range; IQR 44–61) and disease duration of 7 years (IQR 3–17). The presence of any form of psoriatic nail dystrophy was associated with erosion at the DIP joints of the corresponding digit (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.23–2.83; p < 0.004) and this association was primarily driven by the presence of nail onycholysis (OR 1.72; 95% CI 1.12–2.62; p = 0.02). Nail subungual hyperkeratosis was more strongly associated with joint space narrowing, erosions, and osteoproliferation at the corresponding DIP joint compared to non-DIP joints (p < 0.001). Nail pitting was not associated with erosions or osteoproliferation.Conclusion.The presence of psoriatic nail dystrophy, particularly onycholysis, is associated with erosive disease at the DIP joints. Subungual hyperkeratosis is more strongly associated with erosive damage at the DIP than non-DIP joints. These findings support the anatomical and pathological link between nail and DIP joint disease.

Download Full-text