Correlation between carotid intima-media thickness and serum TNF-alpha levels in female with rheumatoid arthritis of different ethnicities: A single-centre experience in Malaysia

Abstract

For many years, laboratory diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis has relied on the detection of rheumatoid factor. A new assay that detects antibodies to citrullinated peptides, called the anti-CCP assay, has demonstrated a comparable sensitivity but a much higher specificity than the RF test. This paper reviews RF and anti-CCP in rheumatoid arthritis and examines the usefulness of each autoantibody in RA testing.