Antibodies to a strain-specific citrullinated Epstein-Barr virus peptide diagnoses rheumatoid arthritis

Scientific Reports
Nicole Hartwig TrierGunnar Houen

Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic autoimmune disease. Anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA) are crucial for the serological diagnosis of RA, where Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been suggested to be an environmental agent in triggering the onset of the disease. This study aimed to analyse antibody reactivity to citrullinated EBV nuclear antigen-2 (EBNA-2) peptides from three different EBV strains (B95-8, GD1 and AG876) using streptavidin capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. One peptide, only found in a single strain (AG876), obtained a sensitivity and specificity of 77% and 95%, respectively and showed high sequence similarity to the filaggrin peptide originally used for ACPA detection. Comparison of antibody reactivity to commercial assays found that the citrullinated peptide was as effective in detecting ACPA as highly sensitive and specific commercial assays. The data presented demonstrate that the citrullinated EBNA-2 peptide indeed is recognised specifically by RA sera and that the single peptide is able to compete with assays containing multiple peptides. Furthermore, it could be hypothesized that RA may be caused by (a) specific strain(s) of EBV.

References

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Citations

Dec 19, 2019·International Journal of Molecular Sciences·Nicole TrierGunnar Houen
Sep 24, 2019·Antibodies·Nicole H TrierGunnar Houen
Jan 26, 2021·Frontiers in Immunology·Gunnar Houen, Nicole Hartwig Trier
Feb 12, 2021·Viruses·Francesca GugliesiMatteo Biolatti
Jun 25, 2021·Nature Communications·Gloria GriffanteSanto Landolfo

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
ELISA

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