Key clinical point: Anti-protein arginine deiminase 3/4 (anti-PAD3/4) antibodies could help identify patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) having higher radiographic injury and bone erosion.
Major finding: Anti-PAD4 antibody levels were significantly associated with radiographic injury (P = .027). Patients with anti-PAD3/4 double positivity vs double negativity had a significantly higher radiographic injury (mean Simple Erosion Narrowing Score 48.7 vs 19.4; P = .04) and joint erosion (mean Joint Erosion Score 25.7 vs 9.3; P = .037).
Study details: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study including 71 patients with RA.
Disclosures: This study did not receive any specific funding. M Mahler and L Martinez-Prat declared being employees of Werfen, a company selling autoimmune diagnostic tests.
Source: Palterer B et al. Anti-protein arginine deiminase antibodies are distinctly associated with joint and lung involvement in rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2022 (Nov 28). Doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keac667