Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease with multiple morbidity burdens. Early
diagnosis of RA is the main key in management and prevention of disease complications. Much
research nowadays is looking for a serological marker with high accuracy in diagnosis of early RA
cases. Our aim in this study was to evaluate the role of anti-mutated citrullinated vimentin (anti-
MCV) antibodies in the early diagnosis of RA. In addition to compare its diagnostic sensitivity and
specificity with anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies (anti-CCP) and RF antibodies in early versus
established RA patients. This prospective cross-sectional study included 80 participants: 40 RA
patients (20 early RA patients and 20 established RA patients), 20 patients with other rheumatic
diseases (as a disease control group), and 20 apparently healthy participants as normal controls. All
participants underwent history taking, clinical examination (general, articular assessment and
calculation of disease activity score (DAS28-ESR)) for RA patients, radiological and laboratory
investigations (RF, anti-CCP2 and anti-MCV antibodies measurements by ELISA technique). The
results showed that the mean values of anti-CCP2 and anti-MCV were significantly increased in RA
cases compared to the control groups (p=0.00 and p=0.01, respectively). Anti-MCV had sensitivity
and specificity of 63% and 83%, respectively for diagnosing of early RA at area under curve of 0.80
compared to sensitivity and specificity 37% and 100%, respectively for anti-CCP2. Also, both (anti-
CCP2 and anti-MCV) had positive significant correlations with ESR (p<0.001 and p=0.02, respectively),
CRP (p=0.01 and p=0.02, respectively) and DAS 28 (p<0.001 for both). In conclusion, our data
indicated that anti-MCV antibodies may represent a valuable marker for diagnosis of early RA cases.
Keywords: RA, RF, Anti CCP, Anti MCV, DAS-28.