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Background/aim: Rheumatoid factor (RF) and anticitrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) are specific for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) diagnosis. However, they could be positive in other diseases and even in healthy populations. The aim was to investigate the prevalence of positive RF and anti-CCP antibodies in persons admitted to hospital for any reason and on a national scale., Materials and Methods: The National Electronic Health Database, which contains the clinical records of over 80 million people, was used to design this multicenter, retrospective cohort study. The subjects included in the study were divided into age groups according to 10-year periods. RA cases were identified using ICD-10 codes that included M05, M06, M08, and their subgroups. RF and anti-CCP positivity were evaluated in terms of their contribution to the risk of being diagnosed with RA, with the change according to age and sex., Results: During the 1.1.2018-31.12.2021 period, 13,918,072 RF tests were performed in 11,849,440 people, whereas 1,183,607 anti-CCP tests were performed in 1,020,967 people. Moreover, 797,089 people had both tests performed at least once. The RF positivity rate in patients who only requested RF tests was 14.72% and it was 35.04% for anti-CCP positivity in those who only requested anti-CCP tests. The rate of concomitant RF and anti-CCP positivity was 22.56%. An RA diagnosis was made in 27.8% of RF-positive people, 39.73% of anti-CCP-positive people, and 56.6% of co-RF and anti-CCP-positive people. RF positivity and concomitant RF and anti-CCP positivity increased with age and were more common in females., Conclusion: RF and anti-CCP positivity may be seen in a healthy population with female predominance. As age increases, the risk of RF positivity rises, but anti-CCP positivity does not change. Concomitant RF and anti-CCP positivity shows the highest risk of RA development with respect to either antibody positivity alone., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (© TÜBİTAK.)

Anti-Golgi antibodies are uncommon antibodies that exhibit specific, polarized cytoplasmic staining on the Hep-2 substrate. The objective of our study was to identify the clinical and laboratory features associated with anti-Golgi antibodies. We examined 4.5 years of data from a Turkish tertiary hospital in this retrospective cohort analysis. The indirect immunofluorescence staining patterns, antinuclear antibody (ANA) titres and clinical data of all patients were obtained from the hospital record system. A total of 146,055 ANAs were detected, of which 224 patients (0.15%) exhibited anti-Golgi antibody staining. In total, 39.4% of diagnosed patients had autoimmune diseases (AIDs). Of the AIDs, 26 (46.4%) were rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This is a very high rate and another remarkable point is that 17 (65.3%) of these patients had seronegative RA. High-titre results (1 ≥ 1/320) were more common in patients with AID. Anti-Ro52 was prevalent in 50% of extractable nuclear antigen (ENA)-positive patients, making it a remarkable finding. The majority of individuals with high-titre anti-Golgi antibodies had AID, particularly RA. The majority of these patients also tested negative for anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) and rheumatoid factor (RF). Finally, high-titre anti-Golgi antibodies may be an important serologic marker for seronegative RA in the Turkish population., (© 2024 The Scandinavian Foundation for Immunology.)