PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Alain Saraux AU - Jean M Berthelot AU - Valérie Devauchelle AU - Boutahar Bendaoud AU - Gérard Chalès AU - Catherine Le Henaff AU - Jean B Thorel AU - Sylvie Hoang AU - Sandrine Jousse AU - Dominique Baron AU - Paul Le Goff AU - Pierre Youinou TI - Value of antibodies to citrulline-containing peptides for diagnosing early rheumatoid arthritis. DP - 2003 Dec 01 TA - The Journal of Rheumatology PG - 2535--2539 VI - 30 IP - 12 4099 - http://www.jrheum.org/content/30/12/2535.short 4100 - http://www.jrheum.org/content/30/12/2535.full SO - J Rheumatol2003 Dec 01; 30 AB - OBJECTIVE: To compare the diagnostic values of antiperinuclear factor (APF), antikeratin antibody (AKA), and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptides (anti-CCP) to discriminate between patients with and without rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to determine the diagnostic value of anti-CCP used alone or with other tests. METHODS: Two hundred and seventy patients with early arthritis underwent standardized investigations in 1995-1997. The clinical utility of APF, AKA, and anti-CCP in first-visit sera was evaluated using receiver-operating characteristic curves. Combinations of anti-CCP with other laboratory tests were assessed by multiple logistic regression. RESULTS: Anti-CCP, APF, and AKA were not perfectly correlated with one another. Anti-CCP with 53 UI as the cutoff was 47% sensitive and 93% specific, versus 52% and 79%, and 47% and 94%, for APF and AKA, respectively. Multiple logistic regression selected anti-CCP, AKA, IgM-rheumatoid factor (RF) ELISA, and the latex test. CONCLUSION: Rheumatologists can routinely use 2 or 3 tests for diagnosing RA (latex and/or IgM RF ELISA, and either AKA or anti-CCP ELISA) and can add a third or fourth test when the diagnosis remains in doubt.