Useful For/Utility

The presence of anti-CCP3 can be used in conjunction with clinical findings and other laboratory tests to aid in the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is one of the most common systemic autoimmune diseases affecting approximately 0.5% of the world population. The diagnosis depends primarily on clinical manifestations of the disease. Until recently, the only serological test routinely used was the presence of rheumatoid factor (RF) found in approximately 50-90% of these patients. However, RF is nonspecific to RA. A circular peptide containing citrulline, called CCP (Cyclic Citrullinated Peptide) was found to be better at identifying RA compared to other laboratory tests.  In a review of the published literature, 77% of patients with RA are positive for anti-CCP, while an average of 3% of non-RA subjects are positive.