Journal of Clinical and Experimental Investigations

Abstract

Objectives: Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is an inflammatory joint disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the titers of Anti-syclic citrullinated protein (anti-CCP antibodies) in PsA and assess their associations with clinical characteristics and quality of life.
Materials and methods: Fourty two patients with PsA and 38 healthy control subjects were included. Demographic data and clinical characteristics including age, gender, disease duration, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), anti-CCP antibodies and rheumatoid factor were assessed. Visual analog scale (VAS), Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) and short form-36 (SF-36) were used to evaluate QOL in both groups.
Results: The demographic data of the subjects were not different between the groups. Patients with PsA had higher anti-CCP levels compared to healthy controls (56.3±73.0 U vs. 0.9±0.5 U, respectively, p=0.01) Thirteen (33.3%) patients with PsA had positive anti-CCP, while no anti-CCP positivity was found in the control group (p<0.001). The scores of NHP social isolation, emotional reaction and pain subscales were significantly higher in PsA patients than in control subjects (p<0.05). The scores of physical domains of NHP were not statistically different between groups. There was no statistically significant correlation between the NHP or the SF-36 scores with ESR or CRP levels in PsA group. SF-36 and NHP were found to be significantly correlated with VAS and fatigue (p<0.05).
Conclusion: Anti-CCP antibody positivity was significantly higher in patients with PsA and anti-CCP titers were not related to quality of life measures.