OBJECTIVES: To assess the diagnostic value for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), of an immunoblotting assay based on the rat oesophagus epithelium antigens recognised by the so-called 'antikeratin antibodies' ('AKA'), antigens that have been identified as three non-cytokeratin proteins (referred to as A, B and C proteins). METHODS: After polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in non-denaturing conditions and electrotransfer of an epithelial extract, the immunoreactivities to the A, B and C proteins of a series of serum samples from 88 patients with RA and 100 patients with non-rheumatoid rheumatic diseases, were semiquantitatively evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 81.8% of RA serum samples recognised the three proteins, while 91% of non-RA serum samples only weakly recognised the A and B proteins but not the C protein. Only in the group of RA patients, were the titres of the antibodies to the A, B and C proteins found to be significantly correlated with each other and with the titres of 'AKA' detected by the standard indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) method. For a diagnostic specificity of 99%, the diagnostic sensitivities of the detection of the A and B proteins were 50% and 43.2%, respectively, when those of the detection of 'AKA' by IIF and of IgM-rheumatoid factor by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were 42% and 54%, respectively. In contrast, at a same specificity of 99%, the diagnostic sensitivity of the detection of the C protein was significantly higher with a value of 70.5%. CONCLUSION: This immunoblotting assay which is the first immunochemical method proposed for the detection of 'AKA, should be validated on larger series of patients but can already be considered as a very powerful test for the serological diagnosis of RA.
OBJECTIVES: To assess the diagnostic value for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), of an immunoblotting assay based on the rat oesophagus epithelium antigens recognised by the so-called 'antikeratin antibodies' ('AKA'), antigens that have been identified as three non-cytokeratin proteins (referred to as A, B and C proteins). METHODS: After polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in non-denaturing conditions and electrotransfer of an epithelial extract, the immunoreactivities to the A, B and C proteins of a series of serum samples from 88 patients with RA and 100 patients with non-rheumatoid rheumatic diseases, were semiquantitatively evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 81.8% of RA serum samples recognised the three proteins, while 91% of non-RA serum samples only weakly recognised the A and B proteins but not the C protein. Only in the group of RApatients, were the titres of the antibodies to the A, B and C proteins found to be significantly correlated with each other and with the titres of 'AKA' detected by the standard indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) method. For a diagnostic specificity of 99%, the diagnostic sensitivities of the detection of the A and B proteins were 50% and 43.2%, respectively, when those of the detection of 'AKA' by IIF and of IgM-rheumatoid factor by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were 42% and 54%, respectively. In contrast, at a same specificity of 99%, the diagnostic sensitivity of the detection of the C protein was significantly higher with a value of 70.5%. CONCLUSION: This immunoblotting assay which is the first immunochemical method proposed for the detection of 'AKA, should be validated on larger series of patients but can already be considered as a very powerful test for the serological diagnosis of RA.
Authors: F C Arnett; S M Edworthy; D A Bloch; D J McShane; J F Fries; N S Cooper; L A Healey; S R Kaplan; M H Liang; H S Luthra Journal: Arthritis Rheum Date: 1988-03
Authors: K Terato; Y Shimozuru; K Katayama; Y Takemitsu; I Yamashita; M Miyatsu; K Fujii; M Sagara; S Kobayashi; M Goto Journal: Arthritis Rheum Date: 1990-10
Authors: L Nogueira; M Sebbag; C Vincent; M Arnaud; B Fournié; A Cantagrel; M Jolivet; G Serre Journal: Ann Rheum Dis Date: 2001-09 Impact factor: 19.103