Assessment of anti-MDA5 antibody as a diagnostic biomarker in patients with dermatomyositis-associated interstitial lung disease or rapidly progressive interstitial lung disease

Anti-melanoma differentiation-associated protein 5 (MDA5) antibody have been found in dermatomyositis (DM)-associated interstitial lung disease (DM-ILD) and DM-associated rapidly progressive ILD (DM-RPILD). Due to the conflicting results regarding the association between anti-MDA5 antibody and DM-ILD or DM-RPILD and the diagnostic value of this antibody for DM-ILD and DM-RPILD, we performed this meta-analysis. A systematic search was performed to identify studies published to January 14, 2017. Sixteen publications with 491 DM with ILD versus 605 DM without ILD, as well as eighteen publications with 186 DM with RPILD and 790 DM without RPILD were included. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve (AUC) values of anti-MDA5 antibody for DM-ILD were 0.47 (95% CI: 0.37–0.57), 0.96 (95% CI, 0.92–0.97), and 0.90 (95% CI: 0.88–0.93), respectively, with a low sensitivity value. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, and AUC values were 0.83 (95% CI: 0.77–0.88), 0.86 (95% CI: 0.80–0.91), and 0.87 (95% CI: 0.84–0.90) for DM with RPILD versus without RPILD with good sensitivity and specificity values. Trial sequential analysis showed sufficient evidence to support that anti-MDA5 antibody was associated with DM-ILD and DM-RPILD. The statistical power of this study calculated using G*Power version 3.1.9.2 was more than 99% (α = 0.05). Taken together, these findings suggest that anti-MDA5 antibody has a potential useful ability as a noninvasive biomarker in the diagnosis of RPILD in patients with DM.