Prevalence of anti cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies in Malaysian rheumatoid arthritis patients and its correlation with disease activity

Aim: The objectives Of this Study are to provide data regarding the prevalence of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP) antibodies in Malaysian rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and to correlate the levels of anti-CCP antibody with the Disease Activity Score (DAS). Method: We studied the prevalence of anti-CCP antibodies in 51 RA patients attending Our clinic and 29 controls. We also looked for correlation between anti-CCP antibody levels with the DAS and parameters Such as duration of disease, rheumatoid factor (RF) and disease-modifying anti rheumatic drug (DMARD) usage. Results: None of the controls demonstrated anti-CCP antibodies. Forty-one out of 51 patients (80.4%) were positive for anti-CCP antibodies. Sensitivity and specificity were 80.4% and 100% respectively in this study. Anti-CCP levels correlated significantly with rheumatoid factor, but no correlation was observed with the other parameters. Conclusions: Anti-CCP antibody is prevalent in Malaysian RA patients at 80.4% and more sensitive than RF in our cohort of established RA patients. Even though the anti-CCP levels correlated with RF, it did not show correlation with DAS.