Clinical significance of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptides antibodies in systemic lupus erythematosus patients with arthritis / 中华风湿病学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the clinical significance of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptides antibodies (anti-CCP) in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with arthritis.and to explore the association of anti-CCP with erosive arthritis in SLE patients.Methods Serum samples from 138 SLE patients were examined for anti-CCP with the second generation anti-CCP detection commericial kit.The association between anti-CCP antibodies and clinical features as well as laboratory parameters.especially arthritis,in these SLE patients were analyzed.Results The frequency of anti-CCP was 13.8% (19/138) in this group of SLE patients.Seventy of 138 SLE patients had experienced arthritis.of whom 14 were anti-CCP positive.Anti-CCP antibodies were more frequently detected in SLE patients with arthritis than those without arthritis (20% vs 7.4%,P＜0.05).A statistical correlation between anti-CCP and rheumatoid factor (RF) was found in SLE patients with arthritis (r=0.36,P=0.002).The frequency of arthritis was significantly higher in SLE patients with anti-CCP than without (73.7% vs 47.1%,P＜0.05).Eight out of 138 SLE patients showed ioint erosions on radiographs.When compared with anti-CCP negative patients,erosive arthritis occurred more often in anti-CCP positive patients (35.7% vs 5.4%.P＜0.001).Interestingly.two patients without anti-CCP and RF but with erosive arthritis were anti-RA33 antibodies positive.All 8 SLE patients with erosive arthritis in our study fulfilled 1987 ACR criteria for RA.With regard to other clinical and laboratory features.there were no differences between SLE patients with or without arthritis or between patients with positive and negative anti-CCP antibodies.Conclusions Anti-CCP antibodies have a prevalence of 13.8% in our group of SLE patients and its presence is closely associated with arthritis.Moreover,the presence of anti-CCP antibodies may be a good marker to predict the outcome of SLE arthropathy.