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Background: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a connective tissue disease with ethnic differences. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the ARID3A, CXCR5, and TNFSF8 genes have been reported to be associated with various autoimmune diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between these SNPs and susceptibility to SSc in a Chinese Han population. Methods: A case–control study was conducted in 342 patients with SSc and 694 ethnically matched healthy controls. SNPs in ARID3A, CXCR5, and TNFSF8 were genotyped using a Sequenom MassArray iPLEX system, and allele association analyses were performed using the PLINK v1.90 software. Results: Our study demonstrated that the ARID3A rs10415976 G and CXCR5 rs77871618 T alleles were suggestively associated with patients with SSc (P = 0.049 and P = 0.024, respectively) and TNFSF8 rs1555457 T allele was strongly associated with SSc (P = 0.003). Patients carrying the ARID3A rs350146 TT and TNFSF8 rs1555457 TT genotypes had a significant increased risk of SSc (P = 0.03 and P = 0.004, respectively). Moreover, rs10415976, rs77871618, and rs1555457 were associated with SSc in an additive genetic model (P < 0.05). rs62132345 and rs1555457 were associated with SSc in the dominant genetic model (P < 0.05). rs350146 was associated with SSc in the recessive genetic model (P = 0.029). Conclusions: ARID3A rs10415976, ARID3A rs350146, and CXCR5 rs77871618 were suggestively associated with SSc and TNFSF8 rs1555457 was strongly associated with SSc in the Chinese Han population in this study. Key Points • This case-control study determined that ARID3A rs10415976, ARID3A rs350146 and CXCR5 rs77871618 were suggestively associated with SSc and TNFSF8 rs1555457 was strongly associated with SSc in the Chinese Han population. • The differences in these results compared with previous studies may be a result of ethnic and racial differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction/objectives: Behcet's disease (BD) is a systemic and chronic inflammatory vasculitis with unknown etiology. Diagnosis is determined by evaluating several clinical criteria, but the lack of specific laboratory diagnostic markers makes the diagnosis of BD more difficult. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the changes in hematological parameters in BD patients to investigate their relationship with BD clinical features. Method: A total of 48 BD patients and 96 healthy controls were included in this study. The severity of each BD patient was associated to a severity score according to the entire spectrum of disease manifestations. Several laboratory tests were assessed, and the difference in their results between BD patients and healthy controls was evaluated. Correlation analysis was performed to reveal the interaction of these parameters. Results: C-reactive protein (CRP), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), neutrophil count, platelet count, and plateletcrit significantly increased in BD patients compared with healthy controls (P < 0.05). CRP was higher in patients with skin lesions, MCH and MCHC were lower in patients with vascular involvement, and the neutrophil count was higher in patients with skin lesions and genital ulcers. In addition, higher CRP and lower MCH and MCHC were associated with a severe condition. Besides, MCH and MCHC were negatively correlated with the platelet count, plateletcrit, and neutrophil count. Conclusions: This study revealed that MCH and MCHC are valuable parameters for BD. Their levels help assess the disease severity and indicate the vascular involvement in BD. Key Points • This is the first study reporting MCH and MCHC as important biomarkers in BD. • BD patients with vascular involvement and thrombosis potential have lower levels of MCH and MCHC. • MCH and MCHC are negatively correlated with platelet count, plateletcrit, and neutrophil count. • Lower MCH and MCHC are associated with a severe condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the prevalence and clinical correlation of anti-RNA polymerase III antibodies (anti-RNAP III) in Chinese Han systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients. Methods: Serum samples from 236 patients with SSc, 125 patients with connective tissue diseases (CTD), and 166 healthy controls (HCs), recruited from Peking Union Medical College Hospital and 21 other medical centers in China, were tested for antibodies to RNA polymerase III by means of a line immunoassay (LIA) or an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit. Results: Anti-RNAP III antibodies were found in 14/236 SSc patients (5.93%), 1/125 (0.80%) CTD patients, and 0/166 (0.00%) HCs. The prevalence of anti-RNAP III was higher in SSc patients than in the CTD and HC groups (p = 0.02, p = 0.001, respectively). Renal crisis was significantly more common in patients with anti-RNAP III than patients without anti-RNAP III (42.9 vs. 4.1%, p < 0.0001). Gastrointestinal involvement was significantly more common in patients without anti-RNAP III than patients with anti-RNAP III (53.6 vs. 21.4%, p = 0.039). There was good agreement between the ELISA and line immunoassay (LIA) detection capabilities for anti-RNAP III. Conclusions: The anti-RNAP III antibody, which was detected by ELISA, has diagnostic value for SSc and predictive value for SSc-related renal crisis. Both ELISA and LIA are very reliable methods for anti-RNAP III. Key Points • The prevalence of anti-RNAP III antibody was determined in Chinese SSc patients and performed ethnic differences. • The clinical association between anti-RNAP III antibody and Chinese SSc patients was evaluated in this research. • Methodological consistency of detection of anti-RNAP III antibody using commercial ELISA and LIA methods was evaluated in this research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objectives of this study are to analyze the association between anti-nuclear matrix protein 2 (NXP2) autoantibody and idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs) and to assess the diagnostic and prognostic relevance of anti-NXP2 autoantibody in patients with IIMs. A systematic search was performed in PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, and Scopus to identify studies published as of February 29, 2020. Data was analyzed using Stata 12.0 and Meta-DiSc 1.4. Twenty-eight studies (4764 patients with IIMs and 1981 controls) were included in the meta-analysis. Anti-NXP2 autoantibody showed a significant association with IIMs (odds ratio (OR) = 26.36, 95% confidence interval (CI): 12.05-57.67, P < 0.001), especially juvenile IIMs (OR = 62.48, 95% CI: 16.97-229.98, P < 0.001). The pooled sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve were 0.19 (95% CI = 0.16-0.21), 1.00 (95% CI = 1.00-1.00), and 0.95 for patients with juvenile IIMs versus controls. Anti-NXP2 autoantibody was associated with an increased risk of developing five characteristics (edema, muscle weakness, myalgia/myodynia, dysphagia, and calcinosis) and reduced risk of interstitial lung disease (ILD) (P < 0.001). Anti-NXP2 autoantibody showed no association with increased risk of death in IIMs (P = 0.463). These findings suggest that anti-NXP2 autoantibody is specially related to IIMs and is related to edema, muscle weakness, myalgia/myodynia, dysphagia, calcinosis, and ILD in patients with IIMs. However, there is no evidence to suggest that the presence of anti-NXP2 autoantibody confers a poor prognosis with respect to overall survival. Key Points • This study summarized the diagnostic and prognostic accuracies of anti-NXP2 autoantibody for patients with IIMs. Anti-NXP2 autoantibody is related to edema, muscle weakness, myalgia/myodynia, dysphagia, calcinosis, and ILD in patients with IIMs.