Search

Background Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) is an autoimmune disease that is frequently associated with other autoimmune conditions. Objective To perform serological screening for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in patients with HT. Methods Our study included 88 consecutive serum specimens of patients with confirmed HT and 88 sex- and age-matched healthy subjects. All study participants were tested for anti-cyclic citrullinated peptides antibodies (CCP-Ab) and rheumatoid factor (RF). CCP-Ab and RF were performed using ELISA commercial kits. Statistical analysis was conducted using Epi Info, version 3. Results Out of 88 patients with HT, 15 (17.0%) had CCP-Ab or RF. The frequency of serological markers of RA was significantly higher in patients than in control individuals (17.0% vs 4.5%; P =.007). RF was more frequent in patients than in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (13.6% vs 3.4%; P =.01). Isolated RF-IgM was absent in all controls and present in 6 patients with HT (6.8% vs 0%; P =.02). Out of 14 male patients, 3 (21.4%) had antibodies of RA. There was no significant difference in age between patients with CCP-Ab or RF and those without. Conclusion A high frequency of serological markers of RA was highlighted in patients with HT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: FRAX® is a tool used for evaluation of risk of fracture in RA and non-RA patients and to identify those eligible for intervention. One of the limitations of FRAX in RA settings is that it does not consider factors known to contribute to osteoporosis such as autoantibodies. This study analysed the association of anti-mutated citrullinated vimentin antibody (anti-MCV), anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody (anti-CCP), IgM rheumatoid factor (RF), IgA RF with 10-year risk of major osteoporosis and hip fracture. Methods: FRAX® tool was used to estimate 10-year risk of major osteoporosis fracture and hip fracture in 189 RA patients over 40 years of age. Anti-MCV, anti-CCP, IgM RF and IgA RF were tested using enzyme immunoassay and analysed at different levels. Results were adjusted for various confounders including disease activity. Results: Fifty-one (26.9%) RA patients had high (≥ 20%) 10-year risk of major osteoporosis fracture and 67 (35.4%) had high (> 3%) 10-year risk of hip fracture. Among all the tested autoantibodies, only IgM RF at elevated levels was associated with high 10-year risk of major osteoporosis fracture (adjusted OR = 4.1, 95% CI = 1.5– 11.3, p = 0.006) and of hip fracture (adjusted OR = 17.4, 95% CI = 3.7– 81.3, p < 0.0001). There was no agreement between FRAX and femoral neck (FN) BMD. None of the autoantibodies tested were associated with FN osteopenia or osteoporosis including IgM RF at high levels. Conclusion: Our study highlights the importance of quantitative measurement of autoantibodies in assessment of risk for fractures among RA patients. Our preliminary findings need to be assessed in prospective studies to determine the actual predictive value of high IgM RF levels among patients with RA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) is an autoimmune disease of liver that may be associated with other conditions, including autoimmune thyroid diseases. We aimed to investigate the frequency of anti-thyroperoxidase antibodies (TPO-Ab), antithyroglobulin antibodies (TG-Ab), and anti–thyrotropin receptor antibodies (TSHR-Ab) in Tunisian patients with PBC. Methods Sera of 80 patients with PBC were collected over a 9-year period. A total of 189 healthy blood donors (HBD) were included in the control group. Measurements of TPO-Ab and TG-Ab were performed using indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Competitive ELISA was used to assess TSHR-Ab. Results Antithyroid antibodies (ATA) were significantly more frequent in PBC patients than in the control group (13.7% vs 1.6%; P < 10−3). Out of 11 patients with ATA, 10 (90.9%) were female. Nine patients and 2 HBD had TPO-Ab (11.2% vs 1%; P < 10−3). TG-Ab were more frequent in patients than in healthy subjects but the difference was not statistically significant (6.2% vs 1.6%; P =.1). TPO-Ab and TG-Ab were present together in 3 patients (3.7%). TSHR-Ab were absent in patients and controls. Conclusion This study shows that PBC is associated with a high frequency of ATA but not TG-Ab or TSHR-Ab. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective The aim of this research was to determine the frequency of antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) in patients with COVID-19. Methods The frequency and titers of anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL) and anti-β2 glycoprotein I antibodies (aβ2GPI) were determined in sera of adult patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Immunoglobulin (Ig)G, IgA, IgM aCL, and aβ2GPI were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results Eighty-three patients were included in the study. The mean age of patients was 62 ± 13.9 years, ranging from 23 to 86 years. Stratification according to severity of infection divided patients in 2 groups: 45 patients with moderate infection and 38 patients with critical or severe infection. Out of the 83 patients suffering from COVID-19, aPL (aCL or aβ2GPI) were detected in 24 patients (28.9%). IgG, IgA and IgM aβ2GPI were positive in 2.4%, 16.9% and 8.4%, respectively. IgG, IgA and IgM aCL showed positivity in 7.2%, 0%, and 4.8%, respectively. The frequency of aPL was 36.8% in patients with critical/severe infection and 22.2% in patients with moderate infection. In critical/severe patients, the frequency of aβ2GPI was significantly higher than aCL (34.2% vs 13.2%, P =.03) and aβ2GPI-IgA were significantly more frequent than aβ2GPI-IgG (21.1% vs 2.6%, P =.028). Conclusion In this cross-sectional study, aPL and particularly aβ2GPI-IgA were common in patients with COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: FRAX ® is a tool used for evaluation of risk of fracture in RA and non-RA patients and to identify those eligible for intervention. One of the limitations of FRAX in RA settings is that it does not consider factors known to contribute to osteoporosis such as autoantibodies. This study analysed the association of anti-mutated citrullinated vimentin antibody (anti-MCV), anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody (anti-CCP), IgM rheumatoid factor (RF), IgA RF with 10-year risk of major osteoporosis and hip fracture., Methods: FRAX ® tool was used to estimate 10-year risk of major osteoporosis fracture and hip fracture in 189 RA patients over 40 years of age. Anti-MCV, anti-CCP, IgM RF and IgA RF were tested using enzyme immunoassay and analysed at different levels. Results were adjusted for various confounders including disease activity., Results: Fifty-one (26.9%) RA patients had high (≥20%) 10-year risk of major osteoporosis fracture and 67 (35.4%) had high (>3%) 10-year risk of hip fracture. Among all the tested autoantibodies, only IgM RF at elevated levels was associated with high 10-year risk of major osteoporosis fracture (adjusted OR = 4.1, 95% CI = 1.5-11.3, p = 0.006) and of hip fracture (adjusted OR = 17.4, 95% CI = 3.7-81.3, p < 0.0001). There was no agreement between FRAX and femoral neck (FN) BMD. None of the autoantibodies tested were associated with FN osteopenia or osteoporosis including IgM RF at high levels., Conclusion: Our study highlights the importance of quantitative measurement of autoantibodies in assessment of risk for fractures among RA patients. Our preliminary findings need to be assessed in prospective studies to determine the actual predictive value of high IgM RF levels among patients with RA., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests in this work., (© 2024 Sghiri et al.)

Celiac disease (CD) and rheumathoid arthritis (RA) are both multi-factorial chronic inflammatory auto-immune diseases. In this retrospective study, we determined the frequency of CD in patients with RA using IgA anti-endomysial antibodies (EmA) and tried to explain this association. Indirect immunofluorescence on human umbilical cord was used to detect EmA in 215 patients with seropositive RA collected over a 4-year-period. Two thousand and five hundred healthy blood donors (HBD) served as control group. Among the 215 patients with RA, 12 (9 females) were found positive for EmA while only 7 were positive for EmA in control group, EmA are significantly more frequent in RA patients than in HBD (5.58% vs. 0.28%, p < 10-6; 95% CI [8.21-54.01]; odds ratio: 21.05). In RA patients, the frequency of EmA was not statistically different between males and females. The frequency of EmA was significantly higher in female patients than in healthy females (5.32% vs. 0.40%, p < 10-3). Patients with RA can be considered as a high-risk group for CD based on the high frequency of EmA positivity observed in our study.