01454nas a2200313   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001500055653001000070653002600080653001900106653001500125653002800140653001100168653001100179653001200190653000900202653001600211653002100227653003200248100002200280700001600302700001700318245008600335300001000421490000700431520068800438022001401126       2008                            d  c2008 Apr10aAdolescent10aAdult10aArthritis, Rheumatoid10aAutoantibodies10aBiomarkers10aDiagnosis, Differential10aFemale10aHumans10aleprosy10aMale10aMiddle Aged10aPeptides, Cyclic10aSensitivity and Specificity1 aGuedes-Barbosa LS1 aMangueira C1 aScheinberg M00aAnticitrulline peptide antibodies (CCP3) in leprosy sera: a negative association.  a515-60 v273 a<p>Anticyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies (anti-CCP) have been described almost exclusively in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Recently, these autoantibodies have been found in patients with active tuberculosis. Leprosy is another mycobacterial disease where the presence of autoantibodies has been described by several authors. In this study, 64 patients with leprosy (32 paucibacillary and 32 multibacillary forms of the disease) were evaluated and only 2 patients were positive for the presence of anti-CCP. The low frequency of anti-CCP in leprosy sera demonstrated in our study illustrates the high specificity of anti-CCP for the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis.</p>  a0770-3198