van Boekel Martinus A M, Vossenaar Erik R, van den Hoogen Frank H J, van Venrooij Walther J
Department of Biochemistry, University of Nijmegen, PO Box 9101, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Arthritis Res. 2002;4(2):87-93. doi: 10.1186/ar395. Epub 2001 Nov 6.
The diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is primarily based on clinical symptoms, so it is often difficult to diagnose RA in very early stages of the disease. A disease-specific autoantibody that could be used as a serological marker would therefore be very useful. Most autoimmune diseases are characterized by a polyclonal B-cell response targeting multiple autoantigens. These immune responses are often not specific for a single disease. In this review, the most important autoantibody/autoantigen systems associated with RA are described and their utility as a diagnostic and prognostic tool, including their specificity, sensitivity and practical application, is discussed. We conclude that, at present, the antibody response directed to citrullinated antigens has the most valuable diagnostic and prognostic potential for RA.
类风湿关节炎（RA）的诊断主要基于临床症状，因此在疾病的极早期阶段往往难以诊断RA。因此，一种可作为血清学标志物的疾病特异性自身抗体将非常有用。大多数自身免疫性疾病的特征是针对多种自身抗原的多克隆B细胞反应。这些免疫反应通常并非单一疾病所特有。在本综述中，描述了与RA相关的最重要的自身抗体/自身抗原系统，并讨论了它们作为诊断和预后工具的效用，包括其特异性、敏感性和实际应用。我们得出结论，目前，针对瓜氨酸化抗原的抗体反应对RA具有最有价值的诊断和预后潜力。
