title: Absence of antibody to cyclic citrullinated peptide in sera of non-arthritic patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection.
abstract: The objective of this study was to investigate if antibody to cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) is detected in sera of patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Serum anti-CCP and IgA, IgG, and IgM rheumatoid factor (RF) isotypes were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay on 176 non-arthritic patients with HBV infection. IgA RF, IgG RF, and IgM RF were detectable in 29.5, 21, and 18.8% of the tested sera, respectively, with a total seropositivity rate of 42.7%. Marginally elevated anti-CCP was detected in one patient (0.6%). By regression analysis, there was no statistically significant association between the serum levels of anti-CCP and serum IgA, IgG, or IgM RF (R (2) = 0.033, with respective p values of 0.224, 0.297, and 0.334). In conclusion, anti-CCP was rarely detected in non-arthritic patients with HBV infection in contrast to RF. Thus, testing for anti-CCP may be a useful tool for the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis in this population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Institute of Health Science, College of Medicine, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sang-il
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Wan Hee
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.forename: Hee Jin
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Yun
authors.forename: Dal Sik
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hye Soo
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Sam Im
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Ji An
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Hur
authors.forename: Yong Gon
authors.initials: YG
authors.lastname: Cho
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007132:Immunoglobulin Isotypes / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010456:Peptides, Cyclic / Q000097:blood*; D012217:Rheumatoid Factor / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D007132:Immunoglobulin Isotypes; D010456:Peptides, Cyclic; C487763:cyclic citrullinated peptide; D012217:Rheumatoid Factor