PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Lillian Barra AU - Vivian Bykerk AU - Janet E. Pope AU - Boulos P. Haraoui AU - Carol A. Hitchon AU - J. Carter Thorne AU - Edward C. Keystone AU - Gilles Boire AU - The Catch Investigators TI - Anticitrullinated Protein Antibodies and Rheumatoid Factor Fluctuate in Early Inflammatory Arthritis and Do Not Predict Clinical Outcomes AID - 10.3899/jrheum.120736 DP - 2013 Aug 01 TA - The Journal of Rheumatology PG - 1259--1267 VI - 40 IP - 8 4099 - http://www.jrheum.org/content/40/8/1259.short 4100 - http://www.jrheum.org/content/40/8/1259.full SO - J Rheumatol2013 Aug 01; 40 AB - Objective. In inflammatory arthritis, rheumatoid factor (RF) and anticitrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA) are believed to be associated with more severe clinical outcomes. Our objective was to determine whether ACPA and RF remain stable in early inflammatory arthritis and whether their trajectories over time or baseline levels predicted clinical outcomes. Methods. The study population consisted of patients enrolled in the Canadian Early Arthritis Cohort Study with baseline and at least 12-month followup values of RF and ACPA. Primary outcomes were Disease Activity Score (DAS) remission and the presence of erosions at 12 and 24 months. Other objectives included swollen joint count, Health Assessment Questionnaire score, and DAS. Results. At baseline, 225/342 (66%) patients were ACPA-positive and 334/520 (64%) were RF-positive. At 24 months, 15/181 (8%) ACPA-positive patients became negative. A larger number of patients changed from ACPA-negative to positive: 13/123 (11%). For RF, fluctuations were more common: 67/240 (28%) reverted from positive to negative and 21/136 (18%) converted from negative to positive. RF and ACPA fluctuations did not predict disease outcomes. Patients who remained ACPA-positive throughout followup were more likely to have erosive disease (OR 3.86, 95% CI 1.68, 8.92). Conclusion. RF and ACPA have the potential to revert and convert during the early course of disease. Fluctuations in RF and ACPA were not associated with clinical outcomes.