The Status of Rheumatoid Factor and Anti-Cyclic Citrullinated Peptide Antibody Are Not Associated with the Effect of Anti-TNFα Agent Treatment in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Meta-Analysis

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 9; no. 2; p. e89442
• Main Authors: Lv, Qianwen, Yin, Yufeng, Li, Xin, Shan, Guangliang, Wu, Xiangni, Liang, Di, Li, Yongzhe, Zhang, Xuan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 27.02.2014; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Antibodies, Monoclonal - pharmacology; Antibodies, Monoclonal - therapeutic use; Antirheumatic Agents - pharmacology; Antirheumatic Agents - therapeutic use; Arthritis; Arthritis, Rheumatoid - drug therapy; Arthritis, Rheumatoid - immunology; Autoantibodies - immunology; Bias; Citrulline; Clinical trials; Correlation analysis; Criteria; Etanercept; Heterogeneity; Hospitals; Humans; Immunoglobulins; Immunology; Infliximab; Literature reviews; Medical ethics; Medical research; Meta-analysis; Minority & ethnic groups; Monoclonal antibodies; Odds Ratio; Patients; Peptides; Peptides, Cyclic - immunology; Proteins; Publication Bias; Quality; Quality assessment; Quality control; Regression analysis; Rheumatic diseases; Rheumatoid arthritis; Rheumatoid factor; Rheumatoid Factor - immunology; Rheumatology; Studies; Systematic review; TNF inhibitors; Treatment Outcome; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha - antagonists & inhibitors; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF; Tumor necrosis factor-α; Beijing China; China
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0089442

This meta-analysis was conducted to investigate whether the status of rheumatoid factor (RF) and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) antibody are associated with the clinical response to anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) alpha treatment in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). A systemic literature review was performed using the MEDLINE, SCOPUS, Cochrane Library, ISI Web of Knowledge, and Clinical Trials Register databases, and Hayden's criteria of quality assessment for prognostic studies were used to evaluate all of the studies. The correlation between the RF and anti-CCP antibody status with the treatment effect of anti-TNFα agents was analyzed separately using the Mantel Haenszel method. A fixed-effects model was used when there was no significant heterogeneity; otherwise, a random-effects model was applied. Publication bias was assessed using Egger's linear regression and a funnel plot. A total of 14 studies involving 5561 RA patients meeting the inclusion criteria were included. The overall analysis showed that the pooled relative risk for the predictive effects of the RF and anti-CCP antibody status on patient response to anti-TNFα agents was 0.98 (95% CI: 0.91-1.05, p=0.54) and 0.88 (95% CI: 0.76-1.03, p=0.11), respectively, with I(2) values of 43% (p=0.05) and 67% (p<0.01), respectively. Subgroup analyses of different anti-TNFα treatments (infliximab vs. etanercept vs. adalimumab vs. golimumab), response criteria (DAS28 vs. ACR20 vs. EULAR response), follow-up period (≥ 6 vs. <6 months), and ethnic group did not reveal a significant association for the status of RF and anti-CCP. Neither the RF nor anti-CCP antibody status in RA patients is associated with a clinical response to anti-TNFα treatment.