What is the significance of ankylosing spondylitis screening?

  Laboratory tests for ankylosing spondylitis include platelet count (PLT), white blood cell (WBC) and neutrophil count (GRAN), sedimentation, C-reactive protein (CRP), and immunoglobulins IgG, IgM, and IgA. Platelet count, sedimentation, C-reactive protein, and IgA can all show elevated changes, but only C-reactive protein and IgA are associated with disease activity and can be used as indicators for evaluating the activity of ankylosing spondylitis.   The most important thing is that the patient’s platelet count increases and the platelet ratio rises. However, clinically, the rate of platelet abnormalities is lower in ankylosing spondylitis than in rheumatoid arthritis.  The former is more affected than the latter by factors such as red blood cell morphology, hemoglobin abnormalities, anemia, and measurement conditions. The erythrocyte sedimentation rate is elevated during the active phase of ankylosing spondylitis. However, it has been reported that it is not significantly associated with disease activity.  3, matrix metalloproteinase 23 (MMP23): MMP23 shows inflammatory activity in patients with ankylosing spondylitis, and correlates with blood sedimentation and C-reactive protein, and symptom relief after treatment of ankylosing spondylitis parallels the decrease in MMP23, so it is presumed that MMP23 is an important factor involved in the local pathological process of ankylosing spondylitis.  4, B27: In recent years, B27-related research is more in-depth, because the normal rate of B27 positive 4% to 5%, AS patients with B27 positive rate of 85% to 90%, so can not use an indicator to make a diagnosis. However, it is worth mentioning that bilateral sacroiliac joint lesions and elevated blood sedimentation can be diagnosed as early ankylosing spondylitis even if B27 is negative. Ankylosing spondylitis should also be considered if the patient is B27 positive and has persistent lower back pain. The literature reports that the incidence of AS in normal people with B27 positive is 10%; with early clinical symptoms, such as persistent back pain, the incidence is more than 20%-30%, further examination should be done, if B27 negative, but also combined with medical history, physical signs, laboratory tests after a comprehensive analysis, to make the correct diagnosis.  5, 28kda Drosophila antibodies: 28kda Drosophila antibodies cross-reacted by serum enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, showing a strong positive predictive value of even more than 95%. This may provide a more favorable tool for the future early diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis.