title: Association of Anti-Citrullinated Peptide Antibodies With Coronary Artery Calcification in Rheumatoid Arthritis.
abstract: Citrullinated proteins have been found within atherosclerotic plaque. However, studies evaluating the association between anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPAs) and imaging measures of atherosclerosis in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have been limited to seroreactive citrullinated fibrinogen or citrullinated vimentin and have rendered contradictory results. Therefore, our objective was to evaluate this association using an extended panel of ACPAs in a larger sample of RA patients without clinical cardiovascular disease (CVD).
  
  
  
  ACPAs were identified using a custom Bio-Plex bead assay in 270 patients from 2 independent RA cohorts without clinical CVD, with the first one consisting of 195 patients and the other of 75 patients. Coronary artery calcium (CAC) was assessed by computed tomography as a measure of coronary artery disease.
  
  
  
  High levels of anti-citrullinated histone H2B antibodies were strongly associated with higher CAC scores, compared with lower antibody levels (P = 0.001); this remained significant after adjustment for traditional CV and RA-specific risk factors (P = 0.03). No association between levels of ACPAs and CAC progression at 3 years was seen (P = 0.09); however, the number of progressors was small (n = 92).
  
  
  
  Higher levels of ACPAs targeting Cit-histone H2B were associated with higher CAC scores when compared to lower antibody levels, suggesting a potential role for histone citrullination seroreactivity in atherosclerosis.
authors.affiliation: Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Geraldino-Pardilla
authors.affiliation: Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Jon T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Giles
authors.affiliation: Stanford University School of Medicine and VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California.
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sokolove
authors.affiliation: Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Afshin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zartoshti
authors.affiliation: Stanford University School of Medicine and VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California.
authors.forename: William H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Robinson
authors.affiliation: Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-University of California Los Angeles Medical Center, Torrance.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Budoff
authors.affiliation: University of California, Irvine.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Detrano
authors.affiliation: Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Sabahat
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bokhari
authors.affiliation: Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Joan M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Bathon
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010456:Peptides, Cyclic / Q000097:blood*; D061205:Vascular Calcification / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D015415:Biomarkers; D010456:Peptides, Cyclic; C487763:cyclic citrullinated peptide