• Leonor Nogueira, Martin Cornillet, Madeleine Singwe-Ngandeu, Sebastien Viatte, Sylvette Bas, Cem Gabay, and Guy Serre.
• "Epidermis Differentiation and Rheumatoid Autoimmunity" Laboratory, UMR CNRS 5165, INSERM U1056, Toulouse III University, Toulouse, France; Laboratory of Cell Biology and Cytology, Toulouse University Hospital, Toulouse, France. Electronic address: Nogueira.l@chu-toulouse.fr.
• Clin. Immunol. 2014 May 1; 152 (1-2): 58-64.

AbstractWell documented in Caucasians and Asians, the diagnostic value of anti-CCP2 antibodies has been confirmed in Black African populations. However, autoantibodies to other citrullinated peptides/proteins and their fine specificities have not yet been studied. Here, we show that in Cameroonian patients, anti-citrullinated fibrinogen autoantibodies (AhFibA) are sensitive (73%) diagnostic markers for RA. We also determine that autoantibodies directed to α36-50Cit38,42 or β60-74Cit60,72,74 peptides which bear the immunodominant epitopes of citrullinated fibrin, are present in similar proportions in Black Africans and Caucasians with 25/56 (45%) and 41/56 (73%) positive RA-sera in Cameroonians, respectively. They also account for almost all the AhFibA reactivities since 38/41 (93%) AhFibA-positive sera contain anti-α36-50Cit38,42 and/or anti-β60-74Cit60,72,74 autoantibodies. Finally, HLA-DRB1 SE alleles were associated with higher titres of AhFibA and anti-β60-74Cit60,72,74 autoantibodies. In the genetic and environmental backgrounds of Black Africans, AhFibA are a hallmark of RA like in Caucasians, moreover they recognize the same fibrin epitopes.Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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