The prevalence of ACPA is lower in rheumatoid arthritis patients with an older age of onset but the composition of the ACPA response appears identical

Background Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) consists of two syndromes, one autoantibody-positive and one autoantibody-negative. Existing data on the relation between age of onset and prevalence of autoantibodies were conflicting. Therefore this multicohort study assessed the age of onset in relation to the presence of autoantibodies. The association with characteristics of the anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA) response was also explored. Methods The 1987 criteria-positive RA patients included in the Leiden EAC, BARFOT, ESPOIR, Umea and Lund cohorts (n = 3321) were studied at presentation f... Mehr ...