Anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies in patients affected by HCV-related arthritis

J Biol Regul Homeost Agents. 2008 Jan-Mar;22(1):57-61.

Abstract

Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection can induce immunological disorders with different clinical expressions such as arthritis, Sjogren Syndrome and various forms of vasculitis. Retrospectively, the prevalence of anti-Cyclic Citrullinated peptide antibodies (anti-CCP) in a group of patients affected by HCV-related arthritis with positivity for Rheumatoid Factor (RF) and the eventual correlations with RF and/or Anti-Nuclear Antibodies (ANA) and articular involvement were studied. Thirty patients with arthritis were selected from a population of 380 subjects affected by HCV infection. Each patient was evaluated by clinical examination (23 denoted poliarticular and 7 mono-oligoarticular involvement), by X-graphic aspects of joint involvement (8 patients presented joint erosions), by ANA, RF and anti-CCP positivity. Ten of the HCV-related arthritis patients (33.3 percent) presented positivity for anti-CCP, without significant correlation between such parameter and ANA, RF and articular involvement. Anti-CCP resulted positive in 4 out of the 8 patients with joint erosions, and only in 6 out of the 22 patients without joint erosions. Such frequencies analyzed by chi square resulted with no significant differences. Our patients presented an interesting prevalence of the positivity for anti-CCP. These data are cause to consider the specificity recently attributed to this parameter in the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Antibodies, Antinuclear / blood*
  • Arthritis / blood
  • Arthritis / etiology*
  • Arthritis / immunology*
  • Arthritis, Psoriatic / blood
  • Arthritis, Psoriatic / immunology
  • Hepatitis C / blood
  • Hepatitis C / complications*
  • Hepatitis C / immunology*
  • Humans
  • Joints / immunology
  • Peptides, Cyclic / immunology*
  • Retrospective Studies

Substances

  • Antibodies, Antinuclear
  • Peptides, Cyclic
  • cyclic citrullinated peptide