Association of Disease Activity Score (DAS 28) with subsets of Rheumatoid Factor and Anti-cyclic Citrullinated Peptidesamong -Rheumatoid Arthritis patients in North India

Abstract

Rheumatoid factor (RF), Anticyclic citrullinated peptides (Anti-CCP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and C-reactive protein (CRP) are used as disease markers for RA. There are only a few publications elucidating the correlation of DAS-28 with autoantibodies and inflammatory markers. In the present study, we have made an attempt to determine the association of DAS-28 with autoantibodies and inflammatory markers among the North Indian population. Further, we investigated the potential of subsets of autoantibodies in the diagnosis of RA. Disease activity was calculated by the DAS-28-ESR calculator and levels of disease markers were estimated in serum. In our study, DAS-28 was found in positive correlation with CRP (r=0.63, p=0.00) and ESR (r=0.72, p=0.00). Moderate and weak correlation was found with RF (r=0.41, p=0.00) and anti-CCP (r=0.25, p=0.011), respectively. Patients with positive subsets of both autoantibodies (RF+/Anti-CCP+) have shown a positive correlation with DAS-28. In our study, we found that the presence of RF and Anti-CCP in patient sera can increase the early detection rate of disease. But, for the diagnosis of disease in seronegative patients, more studies on biomarkers are required.