​Diagnosis of seropositive rheumatoid arthritis, differential diagnosis of rheumatic disease.

Anti-CCP antibodies are more specific than Rheumatoid Factor for diagnosing Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and are present in approximately 70% of early stage RA patients. They are good predictors of radiographic joint disease and may be useful in discriminating between erosive osteoarthritis and RA. These antibodies may be present up to 10 years prior to diagnosis and so are highly predictive of the future development of RA in both healthy subjects and patients with undifferentiated arthritis.