ANTI-CYCLIC CITRULLINATED PEPTIDE ANTIBODIES AS A TOOL IN DIFFRENTIATING PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS FROM PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC HEPATITIS C INFECTION-ASSOCIATED POLYARTICULAR INVOLVEMENT

Objective: to assess the utility of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-ccp) antibodies in distinguishingbetween patients with rheumatoid arthritis (ra) and patients with polyarticular involvement associatedwith chronic hepatitis c virus (hcv) infection.methodology: all the patients enrolled in this study were examined in the outpatient department ofmedicine unit at lady reading hospital peshawar from february to december 2010. serum anti-ccpantibodies and rheumatoid factor (rf) were evaluated in 29 patients with ra, 13 patients with chronichcv infection a associated with articular involvement and 35 patients with chronic hcv infection withoutany joint involvement.results: anti-ccp antibodies were detected in18 of 29 (62.1%) patients with ra, 7 of 13(53.8%) patientshaving hcv with ra like arthropathy but not in a single patient with chronic hcv infection with noarticular involvement. conversely, rf was detected in 25 of 29 (86.2%) patients with ra, 9 of 13 (69.2%)patients with hcv-related ra like arthropathy and 8 of 31 (22.9%) patients with hcv infection withoutjoint involvement.conclusion: this concludes that anti-ccp antibodies can be useful in discriminating patients with ra frompatients with hcv-associated arthropathy.,