OXFORD, England, Dec. 10 (UPI) — Rheumatoid arthritis can be detected using a specific blood test for an immune response to inflammation. Scientists have found testing for the proteins causing the immune response is far more sensitive and accurate — potentially allowing doctors to spot the condition as many as 15 years before its effects can be felt.
Rheumatoid arthritis is caused by antibodies sent by the immune system to address inflammation mistakenly attacking the body’s own tissues. The cause is proteins altered by a process called citrullination.
The previous version of the test, called CCP, can detect the altered proteins. Researchers searched for a more reliable measure, however, focusing on the specific protein tenascin-C.
“We knew that tenascin-C is found at high levels in the joints of people with rheumatoid arthritis,” said Dr. Anja Schwenzer, a researcher at the University of Oxford, in a press release. “We decided to see if it could be citrullinated and, if so, whether it was a target for the autoantibodies that attack the body in RA. That might also indicate whether it could be used in tests to indicate the disease.”
After confirming tenascin could be citrullinated, researchers tested samples from 1,985 Swedish and 287 North American patients with rheumatoid arthritis for the altered protein, finding 47 percent of Swedish patients and 51 percent of North Americans tested positive. Checking the test results against 160 healthy people and 330 with osteoarthritis, the researchers reported the blood test was 98 percent accurate.
When testing samples from before arthritis symptoms appeared in the participants, the researchers said antibodies could be detected on average seven years before a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis and up to 16 years before the condition was seen.
Earlier detection of rheumatoid arthritis could allow for better treatment and management of the condition, researchers said.
“This discovery gives us an additional test that can be used to increase the accuracy of the CCP assay and that can predict rheumatoid arthritis, enabling us to monitor people and spot the disease early,” said Kim Midwood, a professor at the University of Oxford. “This early detection is key because early treatment is more effective.”
The study is published in the Annals of Rheumatic Diseases.
Comment count on this article reflects comments made on Breitbart.com and Facebook. Visit Breitbart's Facebook Page.