2019 Volume 31 Issue 2 Pages 112-125
Objective: Agalactosyl（galactose-deficient in the Fc-linked N-glycans, G0）anti-citrullinated peptide antibodies（ACPAs）were recently reported. This study investigated the changes in anti-agalactosyl immunoglobulin G antibodies（carbohydrate in rheumatoid factors [CARFs]）in patients with rheumatoid arthritis（RA）receiving infliximab（IFX）or etanercept（ETN）.
Methods: Data from 80 patients were collected retrospectively. ETN（n=40）or IFX（n=40）with or without methotrexate（ MTX）were injected according to the approved method and the clinical response was evaluated 6 months after administration. CARF measurements were obtained by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay（ECLIA）. ACPA determinations were performed at one timepoint by chemiluminescent immunoassay（CLIA）using anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies（anti-CCP）.
Results: CARF levels at baseline were positively correlated with ACPA（Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient, rs=0.621, n=37, p=4.1 × 10-5）. Baseline CARFs and ACPA levels were positively correlated with C-reactive protein（CRP）（rs=0.337, n=80, p=0.002, and rs=0.467, n=37, p=0.004, respectively）. The percent changes of CARFs from baseline were decreased significantly（median= −42.3%, p=0.0002）. The percent change from baseline CARFs was positively correlated with the percent change from baseline of the Disease Activity Score in 28 joints based on CRP levels（DAS28-CRP）（rs=0.438, p=4.8×10-5）after 6 months of treatment.
Conclusions: We show the first evidence in humans that the percent change of CARFs from baseline is positively correlated with the percent change of Disease Activity Score from baseline after 6 months of infliximab or etanercept treatment in RA patients.
