Novel Markers for Improved Diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis

</a><strong>Background</strong><br>

Rheumatic diseases are the most common chronic inflammatory disorders. Approximately 1 out of 100 humans in western European countries suffers from rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Since only the early treatment allows keeping the disease progression under control, an improved diagnosis is needed, that unequivocally distinguish RA from other arthritis features. Rheumatoid factor (RF) traditionally has been the standard serological test, but its poor specificity and sensitivity limit its usefulness. The combined use of RFs with the anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) or assays resulted in detection levels of about 40% of early arthritis patients and 70-80% of established RA patients.<br><br> <strong>Technology</strong><br> Therefore the present invention provides a tool with strong diagnostic perfor-mance, including high specificity, high sensitivity, and a high prognostic value: The combination of peptides, derived from a set of heterogenous nuclear ribonucleoproteins (hnRNPs) can predict over 94% of established RA patients and also over 78 % of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). <br><br> <b>Benefits:</b><ul> <li>Novel polypeptides for detecting RA-associated autoantibodies, that allow for an improved diagnosis of RA (94%) and SLE (78%).</li> <li>Peptides of the invention turned out to be particularly useful in diag-nosis of RA with an erosive course of the disease.</li> <li>Specific reactivity with antibodies in or isolated from body fluids of RA-patients (e.g. blood, tears, synovial fluid, plasma, urine).</li> <li>The diagnostic assay can be of any type, such as ELISA, Luminex bead arrays and strip arrays etc</li> </ul> <p><strong>IP Rights</strong><br> EP-Priority (12/2008)<br> PCT Application (12/2009) <br><br> <strong>Patent Owner</strong><br> Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin<br> in.vent Diagnostica GmbH

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