ANTI-CYCLIC CITRULLINATED PEPTIDE ANTIBODIES IN RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS PATIENTS.

Objective: To detect the anti cyclic citrullinated peptide (Anti-CCP) antibody in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients to determine its diagnostic value in Pakistani patients. Study Design: Cross sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Military Hospital (MH) Rawalpindi, from January 2013 to June 2015. Material and Methods: A total of 58 patients with complications of rheumatoid arthritis were recruited in the study using convenient sampling technique after their informed consent. Age and gender of the patients were recorded. Blood was collected from the patients subjected to ELISA based detection of anti-CCP and latex agglutination test for detection of Rheumatoid Factor (RF). Data obtained were analyzed using Microsoft excel 2010. Results: Among the fifty eight RA patients, 40% were males and 60% were females. Age ranged between 12 to 80 years (mean age 49.74 ± 16.81 years) of the males RA patients and was higher as compared to females (mean age 43.2 ±16.70 years). ELISA based detection of anti-CCP antibody showed that about 91 percent of RA patients were positive for anti CCP antibody. About 72% were positive for anti CCP antibody alone, 19 percent were positive for both anti-CCP and RF and 9 percent were positive for RF. Conclusion: The results concluded that a higher percentage of the RA patients are positive for anti-CCP antibody marking its importance as a diagnostic marker. Anti-CCP has more sensitivity as compared to RF in RA patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]