Evaluation of Diagnostic Efficacy of Anticyclic Citrullinated Peptide Antibody in Diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Background: The prevalent diagnostic tests available for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), i.e. rheumatoid factor, C-reactive protein (CRP), and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), are nonindicative in the initial stages of disease as well as nonspecific. The latest marker introduced for detection of RA is anticyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP), which can help in early diagnosis and check the progression of severity of RA. Aim: The present study was designed to evaluate the role of anti-CCP antibody in the diagnosis of RA in early stage of disease as compared to ESR and CRP. Materials and Methods: The study population consisted of 325 participants presenting to the orthopedic department, AIMSR, with suspected clinical features of arthritis. All enrolled participants were subjected to demographic and biochemical analysis after taking a detailed history and following the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: The specificity and sensitivity of anti-CCP antibody for the diagnosis of RA, as compared to ESR and CRP, were observed to be 75.77% and 97.7%, respectively. Further, the negative and positive predictive value was found to be as high as 98% and 75.77%, while the likelihood ratios of a positive and negative test were found to be 3.88 and 0.06, respectively. The diagnostic odds ratio was observed to be 133.44, while the accuracy of anti-CCP antibody in the diagnosis of RA was observed to be 84%. Conclusions: The diagnostic potential of anti-CCP antibody can be useful for specific and sensitive diagnosis of RA disease in early stage, helping the clinicians in early and timely administration of treatment.