Anti-citrullinated protein antibodies as biomarkers in rheumatoid arthritis

Expert Rev Mol Diagn. 2023 Aug 14. doi: 10.1080/14737159.2023.2247986. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTINTRODUCTION: The serological biomarker anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPAs) may have several functions but is especially important for the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) along with clinical symptoms.AREAS COVERED: This review provides an overview of ACPAs, which are useful in RA diagnostics and may improve understanding of disease etiology. PubMed was searched with combinations of words related to antibodies recognizing epitopes containing the post-translationally modified amino acid citrulline in combination with: rheumatoid arthritis; cyclic citrullinated peptide, CCP, anti-CCP, anti-citrullinated protein antibodies, ACPA, citrullination, peptide/protein arginine deiminase, PAD, filaggrin, vimentin, keratin, collagen, perinuclear factor, EBNA1, EBNA2, and others. From this search, we made a qualitative extract of publications relevant to the discovery, characterization, and clinical use of these antibodies in relation to RA. We highlight significant findings and identify areas for improvement.EXPERT OPINION: ACPAs have high diagnostic sensitivity and specificity for RA and recognize citrullinated epitopes from several proteins. The best-performing single epitope is from Epstein-Barr Virus nuclear antigen 2 and a major proportion of the antibodies recognize a central citrulline residue commonly associated with a Cit-Gly motif located in a flexible peptide st...
Source: Expert Review of Molecular Diagnostics - Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Source Type: research