Aim: To investigate the clinical significance of detecting several biomarkers collectively in the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Methods: 128 RA patients, 174 non-RA patients and 80 healthy controls were enrolled. HLA-DR4 and HLA-DR53 were detected by the PCR-SSP method, 14-3-3η protein, anti-CCP and anti-Sa were detected by ELISA and DD was detected by latex immunoturbidimetric assay.
Results: The positive rates of HLA-DR4, HLA-DR53, 14-3-3η protein, anti-CCP and anti-Sa were obviously higher in the RA group (43.8, 38.3, 51.6, 80 and 40.6%, respectively); anti-CCP was of highest sensitivity (79.68%), highest specificity (97.5%) and Youden index (0.77). The AUC of 14-3-3η protein, DD, anti-CCP, anti-Sa were 0.813, 0.859, 0.930, 0.861, respectively.
Conclusion: All biomarkers were strongly correlated risk factors for RA; the combination of multiple biomarkers might be of help for diagnostic and therapeutic strategies in RA of recent onset.
Keywords: 14-3-3η protein; HLA-DR4; HLA-DR53; anti-Sa; antibody; anticyclic citrullinated peptide antibody (anti-CCP); autoantibodies; biomarkers; d-dimer (DD); rheumatic disease; rheumatoid arthritis.