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Geoepidemiology and autoimmune manifestations of lymphoproliferative disorders.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The pathogenesis of lymphoproliferative disorders represents an underlying dysfunction in lymphocyte development and homeostasis. This typically manifests with the accumulation of lymphocytes in the bone marrow, peripheral blood or lymph nodes and spleen. It has been hypothesized that the mechanism for elimination of dysfunctional and autoreactive lymphocytes is defective and contributes to the pathogenesis of these disorders. Based on this hypothesis, it would not be surprising to find an increased incidence of autoimmune manifestations that are associated with these disorders. Autoimmune paraneoplastic syndromes (PNS...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - November 12, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Sands J, Tuscano JM Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

The heart in rheumatoid arthritis.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Morbidity and mortality rates are higher in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients than in the general population. Many studies have shown that coronary artery disease is one of the most common causes of death in RA and seems to occur at a younger age than in the general population. RA per se is as much a cardiovascular (CV) risk factor as diabetes, arterial hypertension and dyslipidemia etc., and so it is necessary to plan a follow-up using the same diagnostic and therapeutic approaches as those commonly used for primary and secondary prevention in non-RA patients at high CV risk. All of the cardiac structures can be affe...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - November 11, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Turiel M, Sitia S, Atzeni F, Tomasoni L, Gianturco L, Giuffrida M, Colonna VD, Sarzi-Puttini P Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

The geoepidemiology of autoimmune muscle disease.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Dermatomyositis (DM), polymyositis (PM), and sporadic inclusion-body myositis (sIBM) constitute a heterogenous group of subacute or chonic acquired skeletal muscle diseases. Known as idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM), they all share the presence of considerable weakness due to muscle inflammation and necrosis. Diagnosis is based on clinical findings, confirmed by laboratory examinations (serum muscle enzyme concentrations, autoantibodies against nuclear or cytoplasmatic antigens, electromyography, and muscle biopsy). Environmental exposures leading to immune activation in genetically susceptible individuals seem...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - November 8, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Prieto S, Grau JM Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Autoimmune kidney diseases.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The second most common cause of chronic renal failure is glomerulonephritis, which is a collective term used for numerous of diseases with the common denominator of histological renal inflammation emanating from the glomerular tuft. If all forms of glomerulonephritis should be considered as autoimmune disease can be debated, but immune mechanisms are important in all of them. This review focus on four relatively well delineated forms of primary glomerulonephritis: Goodpastures or anti-GBM disease, IgA-nephritis, membranous nephropathy and membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis. The autoantibodies are directed either ...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - November 8, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Segelmark M, Hellmark T Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Geoepidemiology of systemic sclerosis.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Systemic scleroderosis (SSc) is a rare and potentially severe connective tissue disease, characterized by skin fibrosis and involvement of internal organs. Because of its rarity and heterogeneous clinical presentation, reliable epidemiological studies on SSc have been particularly difficult to carry out. SSc prevalence is estimated between 3 and 24 per 100,000 population and appears to be higher in North America and Australia as compared to Europe and Japan. Incidence estimates have significantly increased between the 50s and the 80s, but this could result from greater physician awareness of the disease and more reliab...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - November 8, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Ranque B, Mouthon L Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

The geoepidemiology of Sjögren's syndrome.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The geoepidemiology of Sjögren's syndrome. Autoimmun Rev. 2009 Nov 7; Authors: Mavragani CP, Moutsopoulos HM Sjogren's syndrome (SS) is a slowly progressing autoimmune disease, affecting predominantly middle-aged women, with a female to male ratio reaching 9:1. It is characterized by lymphocytic infiltration of the exocrine glands, mainly the lacrimal and salivary glands, resulting in reduced secretory functions and oral and ocular dryness. The syndrome can present alone as primary SS (pSS) or in the context of underlying connective tissue disease as secondary SS (sSS). While the pathogenesis of the diseas...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - November 7, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Mavragani CP, Moutsopoulos HM Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

The geoepidemiology of autoimmune intestinal diseases.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
PMID: 19903540 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Autoimmunity Reviews)
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - November 7, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Logan I, Bowlus CL Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

HLA class II polymorphism in Latin American patients with multiple sclerosis.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
CONCLUSION: The current study highlights the effect size of HLA class II in MS in Latin America and confirms similar allelic risk factors across diverse populations. Receptor-ligand interactions in the HLA-antigenic peptide complex could have potential predictive and therapeutical implications. PMID: 19896562 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Autoimmunity Reviews)
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - November 4, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Rojas OL, Rojas-Villarraga A, Cruz-Tapias P, Sánchez JL, Suárez-Escudero JC, Patarroyo MA, Anaya JM Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Rheumatoid arthritis, Proteus, anti-CCP antibodies and Karl Popper.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a crippling joint disease affecting over 20 million people worldwide. The cause of RA is most probably linked to the triad of microbial trigger, genetic association and autoimmunity and can be explained using the philosophical method of Karl Popper or Popperian sequences. Ten "Popper sequences" have been identified which point to the urinary microbe Proteus mirabilis as the cause of RA: Popper sequence 1 establishes that HLA-DR4 lymphocytes injected into a rabbit evoke specific antibodies against Proteus bacteria. Popper sequence 2 establishes that antibodies to Proteus bacteria are present...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - November 3, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Ebringer A, Rashid T, Wilson C Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Geoepidemiologic considerations of auto-immune pemphigus.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Sporadic and endemic forms of pemphigus foliaceus exist. Incidences of the various forms of pemphigus vary from country to country: pemphigus vulgaris is most common in Europe and the USA, whereas pemphigus foliaceus is more prevalent in Northern Africa, Turkey and Southern America. Endemic pemphigus foliaceus (also known as fogo selvagem and Brazilian pemphigus foliaceus) is a variant of the disease that is frequently diagnosed in some areas of Brazil and other underdeveloped areas of the world, including Tunisia and Colombia. Both genetic and environmental factors have been associated with the occurrence of auto-immu...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - November 3, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Meyer N, Misery L Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

The environment, geoepidemiology and ANCA-associated vasculitides.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies, directed against constituents of granules of neutrophils and lysosomes of monocytes, are serological markers of small vessel vasculitides, including Wegener's granulomatosis, microscopic polyangiitis, Churg-Strauss syndrome and renal-limited vasculitis. These vasculitides are collectively termed ANCA-associated vasculitides (AAV). Environmental factors have been considered important in the development of ANCA, including silica, infection especially with Staphylococcus aureus, and drugs. Accelerated apoptosis of neutrophils induced through intratracheal instillation of silica may ...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - November 2, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Chen M, Kallenberg CG Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Travels and travails of autoimmunity: An historical journey from discovery to rediscovery.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Consideration on autoimmunity began, as did immunology itself, around year 1900, first with Ehrlich's doctrine of 'horror autotoxicus', then interpreted as 'autoimmunity cannot happen'. Yet by 1904 the antibody nature of the autohemolysin responsible for cold hemoglobinuria was described, and soon confirmed, but without generating any durable concept on autoimmunization as a cause of disease. Reasons included Ehrlich's doctrine, the particular directions that immunology was to take after the initial advances, and a greater preoccupation with bodily responses to extrinsic rather than autologous substances. So, during 19...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - October 30, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Mackay IR Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Etiopathogenesis of Behcet disease.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Bechet disease (BD) is an inflammatory, multi systemic disease with spontaneous remissions and relapses similar to various autoimmune diseases. BD leads to organ damage, including the eyes, skin, joints, etc., which produce various clinical manifestations. The central histopathologic characteristic is systemic vasculitis with perivascular inflammatory infiltrates. The etiopathogenesis is unknown, although immunological abnormalities, possibly induced by susceptible microbiological pathogens, have been postulated. PMID: 19879978 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Autoimmunity Reviews)
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - October 29, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Mendoza-Pinto C, García-Carrasco M, Jiménez-Hernández M, Hernández CJ, Riebeling-Navarro C, Zavala AN, Recabarren MV, Espinosa G, Quezada JJ, Cervera R Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Gene Therapy in Autoimmune Diseases: Challenges and Opportunities.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Clinical treatment of autoimmune disorders presents a special challenge. For decades, most clinical regimens in autoimmunity has been largely symptomatic and non-disease specific. Although data from vigorous research has lead to accumulating knowledge on the pathogenic and immunological mechanisms of many autoimmune diseases, their direct clinical applications have been sparse. Advances in biotechnology have laid the groundwork for potent and specific molecular targeting therapies by gene therapy, and have just begun to be investigated in the treatment of autoimmune disorders. Such work has been largely based on the av...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - October 22, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Leung PS, Dhirapong A, Wu PY, Tao MH Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Autoimmune diseases induced by biological agents A double-edged sword?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Biological agents are increasingly used for a rapidly expanding number of rheumatic and systemic autoimmune diseases, with a growing number of reports of the paradoxical induction of autoimmune processes, overwhelmingly associated with anti-TNF agents. In this review, we analyze the clinical characteristics and outcomes of autoimmune diseases developing after biological therapies through a baseline Medline search as one of the objectives of the BIOGEAS project, created by the Spanish Society of Internal Medicine. The latest update of our registry (15 July 2009) included more than 800 cases of autoimmune diseases secon...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - October 22, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Ramos-Casals M, Perez-Alvarez R, Diaz-Lagares C, Cuadrado MJ, Khamashta MA, Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Factors influencing polyautoimmunity in systemic lupus erythematosus.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
CONCLUSION: Polyautoimmunity is frequent in SLE, and it is influenced by clinical and immunological features. These findings support that clinically different autoimmune phenotypes might share common susceptibility variants. PMID: 19819350 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Autoimmunity Reviews)
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - October 7, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Rojas-Villarraga A, Toro CE, Espinosa G, Rodríguez-Velosa Y, Duarte-Rey C, Mantilla RD, Iglesias-Gamarra A, Cervera R, Anaya JM Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Incidence and nature of infectious disease in patients treated with anti-TNF agents.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) inhibitors offer a targeted therapeutic strategy that contrasts with the nonspecific immunosuppressive agents traditionally used to treat most inflammatory diseases. These biologic agents have had a significant impact in ameliorating the signs and symptoms of inflammatory rheumatoid disease and improving patient function. From the onset of clinical trials, a central concern of cytokine blockade has been a potential increase in susceptibility to infections. Not surprisingly, a variety of infections have been reported in association with the use of TNF-alpha inhibitor agents. In pa...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - August 25, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Raychaudhuri SP, Nguyen C, Raychaudhuri SK, Gershwin ME Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Current status on B-cell depletion therapy in autoimmune diseases other than rheumatoid arthritis.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Since the approval of the chimeric anti-CD20 antibody rituximab for the treatment of adults with severe-to-moderate rheumatoid arthritis after an inadequate response to TNF blockade, B-cell depletion therapy has been used for the treatment of a broad range of refractory autoimmune disorders. Based on current experiences and a literature search, a systematic review and evaluation of the current status of B-cell depletion therapy in autoimmune diseases other than rheumatoid arthritis, including rheumatic, nephrologic, dermatologic and neurologic autoimmune entities, was performed by an international group of experts bas...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - August 25, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Dörner T, Isenberg D, Jayne D, Wiendl H, Zillikens D, Burmester G, Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Psychological stress in rheumatoid arthritis patients: a comparative Polish - German study. Summary of the current conceptualization of the role of stress in rheumatoid arthritis.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Cultural differences in experiencing individual stress in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients might be observed. The aim of the study was to assess quality of life and psychological stress (distress) in RA patients, and to evaluate sociodemographic and disease specific variables predicting stress of patients. The study covered 300 Polish and 137 German RA patients. SF-36v.2 scale was used to evaluate patients' health. Psychological stress was defined as the feeling of "social isolation" and "being a burden" as demanding help in everyday activities. In both countries, mental and physical health of patients was deteriora...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - August 17, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Bugajska J, Brzosko M, Jędryka-Góral A, Głuszko P, Zołnierczyk-Zreda D, Sagan A, Konarska M, Rell-Bakalarska M, Pazdur J, Zeidler H, Rihl M, Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Homocysteine and Raynaud's phenomenon: A review.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Raynaud's phenomenon, categorized as primary and secondary when occurring isolated or in association with an underlying disease, respectively, is a paroxysmal and recurrent acral ischemia resulting from an abnormal arterial vasospastic response to cold or emotional stress. The key issue in the pathogenesis of Raynaud's phenomenon is presumed to be a dysregulation in the mechanisms of vascular motility resulting in an imbalance between vasodilatation and vasoconstriction. Homocysteine, a non-protein forming sulphured amino acid proposed as an independent risk factor for atherothrombosis in the general population, clearl...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - August 14, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Lazzerini PE, Capecchi PL, Bisogno S, Cozzalupi M, Rossi PC, Laghi Pasini F Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

The myelin-associated oligodendrocytic basic protein (MOBP) as a relevant primary target autoantigen in multiple sclerosis.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease of the human CNS, characterized by perivascular inflammation. demyelination and axonal damage. Although the etiology of MS is unknown, it is believed that the disease results from destructive autoimmune mechanisms, presumably initiated by abnormal activation of potentially pathogenic autoimmune T cells recognizing CNS components. The myelin-associated oligodendrocyte basic protein (MOBP), a relatively abundant CNS-specific myelin protein, which plays a role in stabilizing the myelin sheath in the CNS, has recently been implicated in the pathogenesis of MS. Here we review studies sho...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - August 11, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Kaushansky N, Eisenstein M, Zilkha-Falb R, Ben-Nun A Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

The Wnt signaling pathway and rheumatoid arthritis.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The Wnt signaling pathways play a key role in cell renewal, and there are two such pathways. In patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the synovial membrane expresses genes such as Wnt and Fz at higher levels than those observed in patients without RA. The Wnt proteins are glycoproteins that bind to receptors of the Fz family on the cell surface. The Wnt/Fz complex controls tissue formation during embryogenesis, as well as throughout the process of limb development and joint formation. Recent studies have suggested that this signaling pathway plays a role in the pathophysiology of RA. Greater knowledge of the role of...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - August 11, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Rabelo FD, da Mota LM, Lima RA, Lima FA, Barra GB, de Carvalho JF, Amato AA Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

B Cell-targeted therapies in Sjögren's syndrome.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
B Cell-targeted therapies in Sjögren's syndrome. Autoimmun Rev. 2009 Aug 8; Authors: Tobón GJ, Pers JO, Youinou P, Saraux A Sjögren's syndrome (SS) or autoimmune epithelitis is characterized by focal lymphocytic infiltrates surrounding the tubular epithelium of exocrine glands and by overactivity of the B-cell population. Although T cells were long considered the main effectors in SS, recent findings indicating a key role for B cells have prompted studies of treatments designed to deplete the B-cell population. Among molecules that can be targeted to achieve B-cell depletion, CD20 and CD22 are su...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - August 7, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Tobón GJ, Pers JO, Youinou P, Saraux A Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

BLyS and April serum levels in patients with autoimmune thyroid diseases.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Elevated B-Lymphocyte Stimulator (BLyS) and April (a proliferation-inducing ligand) expressions characterize several autoimmune diseases. We here analysed the possible role of BLyS and April in autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITD), comprising Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) and Graves' disease (GD). Seventy-seven patients with AITD and 77 blood donors (HBD) were enrolled in the study. Serum BLyS and April levels were assessed by ELISA. Results indicated a significant upregulation of BLyS in AITD patients (1.12+/-0.39ng/ml versus 0.666+/-0.240ng/ml in HBD; p<0.0001), with GD patients presenting higher BLyS levels than HT ...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - July 28, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Fabris M, Grimaldi F, Villalta D, Picierno A, Fabro C, Bolzan M, De Vita S, Tonutti E Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Tumour necrosis factor antagonist therapy and cancer development: Analysis of the lorhen registry.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
CONCLUSION: The overall cancer risk in RA patients treated with anti-TNF seemed to be similar to that in the general population in the same geographical area, but the risk of haematological cancer was significantly greater. The demographic and clinical factors associated with a higher risk of cancer in our cohort were male gender and an age of >65years. PMID: 19647103 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Autoimmunity Reviews)
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - July 28, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Pallavicini FB, Caporali R, Sarzi-Puttini P, Atzeni F, Bazzani C, Gorla R, Marchesoni A, Favalli EG, Montecucco C Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Malignancies in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a prototypical systemic autoimmune disease, characterized by a wide array of symptoms and organ involvements, leading to varying disease courses and outcome, ranging from mild to severe types. In patients with SLE, the incidence and risk of malignancy development is increased, mostly non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), cervical cancer, as well as bronchial carcinomas occur. Besides others, the common genetic predisposition, chronic antigen stimulus, disproportional immune responses, as well as the chronic administration of immunosuppressive medications can contribute to the development o...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - July 26, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Kiss E, Kovacs L, Szodoray P Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Autoimmune pancreatitis: An underdiagnosed autoimmune disease with clinical, imaging and serological features.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Since Sarles et al reported a case of pancreatitis associated with hypergammaglobulinemia, many cases have been described, which led to the current concept of "autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP)". Lymphoplasmacytic infiltration and fibrosis on histology together with elevated IgG levels or the presence of autoantibodies on laboratory examinations supported the concept of AIP. In recent years, based on histological and immunohistochemical examination of various organs of patients with AIP, a novel clinicopathological entity, IgG4-related slerosing disease, has been proposed. AIP is a systemic disease that is characterized by...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - July 17, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Sánchez-Castañón M, de Las Heras-Castaño G, López-Hoyos M Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Secondary tumours in Sjögren's syndrome.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Secondary tumours in Sjögren's syndrome. Autoimmun Rev. 2009 Jul 11; Authors: Kovács L, Szodoray P, Kiss E The frequent association of Sjögren's syndrome (SS) with non-Hodgkin's B cell lymphoma (NHL) provides an example of the interplay of systemic autoimmunity and lymphoproliferative diseases, and an opportunity to study the pathogenetic steps of lymphomagenesis. NHL develops in approximately 5% of SS patients. Parotidomegaly, lymphadenopathy, inflammatory neuropathy and vasculitis have been found to be predictive of the development of lymphoma. A subsequent NHL is also heralded by the appearanc...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - July 10, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Kovács L, Szodoray P, Kiss E Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Methods used to assess remission and low disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The aim of the treatment in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is to prevent articular damage and functional loss by decreasing the activity of the disease. The overall goal is the full suppression of the activity of the disease, also called clinical remission. The most reliable indices to assess RA activity were defined by the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) and the International League Against Rheumatism (ILAR) and are habitually used for the evaluation of remission. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) established three increasingly restrictive categories of disease re...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - July 10, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Ometto F, Botsios C, Raffeiner B, Sfriso P, Bernardi L, Todesco S, Doria A, Punzi L Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Cardiovascular risk in rheumatoid arthritis.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The increased mortality in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is mainly due to (atherosclerotic) cardiovascular disease. The cardiovascular morbidity is also increased in comparison with the general population. This increased cardiovascular burden could be caused by 1) an enhanced prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors 2) under treatment of cardiovascular risk factors or 3) RA itself, particularly due to its chronic inflammatory component. Cardiovascular risk factors only partially explain the increased cardiovascular risk and it is becoming increasingly acknowledged that the underlying inflammation in RA plays an essential ...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - June 27, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Nurmohamed MT Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Glutathione: a key player in autoimmunity.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Increasing attention in the physiopathology of inflammatory/immunomediated diseases has been focused on the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS), oxygen-based molecules possessing high chemical reactivity and produced by activated neutrophils during the inflammatory response. During chronic inflammation, when sustained production of ROS occurs, antioxidant defences can weaken, resulting in a situation termed oxidative stress. Moreover, antioxidant defence systems have been demonstrated to be constitutively lacking in patients affected with chronic degenerative diseases, especially inflammatory/immunomediated. Glutathi...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - June 27, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Perricone C, De Carolis C, Perricone R Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Anti-topoisomerase I autoantibodies in systemic sclerosis.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune disease characterized by fibrosis of the skin, vascular abnormalities and activation of the immune system. The majority of SSc patients have autoantibodies against nuclear antigens. Among these antibodies against topoisomerase I (topo I) are frequently detected in sera of SSc patients. Since the discovery of these antibodies as immunoglobulins reacting with a 70 kDa nuclear protein (Scl-70), a massive body of clinical and experimental data has been generated. In this review we summarize accumulated evidence about anti-topo I autoantibodies in SSc, including results of epitope m...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - June 27, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Czömpöly T, Simon D, Czirják L, Németh P Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Infection and type 1 diabetes mellitus - a two edged sword?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This article reviews the current data available from clinical studies and animal models, while trying to explain the different mechanisms underlying these findings. PMID: 19393195 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Autoimmunity Reviews)
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - June 27, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Goldberg E, Krause I Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Autoimmune disease in the era of the metagenome.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Studies of autoimmune disease have focused on the characteristics of the identifiable antibodies. But as our knowledge of the genes associated with the disease states expands, we understand that humans must be viewed as superorganisms in which a plethora of bacterial genomes - a metagenome - work in tandem with our own. The NIH has estimated that 90% of the cells in Homo sapiens are microbial and not human in origin. Some of these microbes create metabolites that interfere with the expression of genes associated with autoimmune disease. Thus, we must re-examine how human gene transcription is affected by the plethora o...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - June 27, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Proal AD, Albert PJ, Marshall T Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Regulatory T cells in diabetes and gastritis.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Patients with Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D) have an increased prevalence of associated organ-specific autoimmune diseases such as pernicious anemia whose histological substrate is a chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG). Latent pernicious anemia precedes clinically-manifest pernicious anemia and may be difficult to detect solely on simple analytical grounds. We recently described an increased prevalence of clinically-latent pernicious anemia in T1D using low concentrations of pepsinogen I, a zymogen of pepsin present in gastric mucosa, as a useful additional diagnostic marker, besides parietal cell antibodies, for screenin...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - June 27, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Alonso N, Soldevila B, Sanmartí A, Pujol-Borrell R, Martínez-Cáceres E Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Myelin peptides in multiple sclerosis.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The development of specific therapies for organ-specific autoimmune diseases requires the identification of relevant immunogenic epitopes, recognized by both pathogenic T cells and autoantibodies. Here, we review the most relevant studies focused in the identification of peptides in multiple sclerosis (MS) and the distinct T cell reactivity induced in patients compared to controls. Only a few studies reported significant differences in terms of T cell reactivity to them. The current knowledge on this issue, and the diagnostic and therapeutic possibilities opened by the identification of pathogenic MS epitopes are discu...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - June 27, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Grau-López L, Raïch D, Ramo-Tello C, Naranjo-Gómez M, Dàvalos A, Pujol-Borrell R, Borràs FE, Martínez-Cáceres E Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Vitamin D: the alternative hypothesis.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Early studies on vitamin D showed promise that various forms of the "vitamin" may be protective against chronic disease, yet systematic reviews and longer-term studies have failed to confirm these findings. A number of studies have suggested that patients with autoimmune diagnoses are deficient in 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-D) and that consuming greater quantities of vitamin D, which further elevates 25 D levels, alleviates autoimmune disease symptoms. Some years ago, molecular biology identified 25 D as a secosteroid. Secosteroids would typically be expected to depress inflammation, which is in line with the reports of s...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - June 27, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Albert PJ, Proal AD, Marshall TG Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Commercial blot assays in the diagnosis of systemic rheumatic diseases.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Commercial blot assays are advanced applications of immunoblotting or dot immunobinding methodologies for the detection of specific autoantibodies in autoimmune diseases. Line(Dot) blots in particular have cost-effectively optimized a sort of multiparametric assay for simultaneous determination of several autoantibody reactivities. Efficient and wide-spectrum potentialities of recombinant DNA technology and proteomics are fruitfully employed by manufacturers in order to obtain highly purified antigens or novel targets to be spotted on blot matrices thus continuously implementing their multianalytic platforms. At presen...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - June 27, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Ghirardello A, Bendo R, Rampudda ME, Bassi N, Zampieri S, Doria A Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Peptydilarginine deiminase 4 and citrullination in health and disease.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Deimination is catalyzed by a family of calcium binding enzymes, called peptydilarginine deiminases (PADs). Among these, the PAD4 isoform has been more extensively studied for its role in some autoimmune diseases. PAD4 is localized in the cytoplasm of monocytes, T and B cells, neutrophils, eosinophils and NK cells and can move to the nucleus upon cell activation. PAD4 plays a physiological role in gene regulation via citrullination of histones. In rheumatoid arthritis (RA), PAD4 contributes to the generation of ACPA specific substrates and is itself a target of autoantibodies; alleles of the PADI4 gene confer susceptib...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - June 16, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Anzilotti C, Pratesi F, Tommasi C, Migliorini P Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Pregnancy, postpartum autoimmune thyroiditis, and autoimmune hypophysitis: Intimate relationships.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This article will review the current state of knowledge of the immunological changes that occur during normal pregnancy, and will explore the striking temporal association with pregnancy observed in thyroiditis and hypophysitis. PMID: 19539059 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Autoimmunity Reviews)
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - June 14, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Landek-Salgado MA, Gutenberg A, Lupi I, Kimura H, Mariotti S, Rose NR, Caturegli P Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Chronic hepatitis B virus infection in Sjögren's syndrome. Prevalence and clinical significance in 603 patients.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
CONCLUSIONS: We found a prevalence of chronic HBV infection of 0.83% in SS, very similar to the prevalence in general population in Spain (0.7%). In contrast to the close association between SS and HCV, chronic HBV infection is not associated with SS in our geographical area, with a ratio SS-HBV/SS-HCV cases of 1:10. PMID: 19393197 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Autoimmunity Reviews)
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - May 31, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Marcos M, Alvarez F, Brito-Zerón P, Bove A, Perez-De-Lis M, Diaz-Lagares C, Sanchez-Tapias JM, Ramos-Casals M Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Latest update on the Ro/SS-A autoantibody system.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Anti-SS-A (Ro52/Ro60) autoantibodies have been described as serological marker for Sjögren's syndrome but are also found in patients with other systemic autoimmune diseases. Historically, these autoantibodies were considered as a uniform autoantibody-system. However, recent studies provided evidence that Ro60 and Ro52 are not part of a stable macromolecular complex and that anti-Ro52 and anti-Ro60 (SS-A) antibodies have different clinical associations. The prevalence of anti-Ro52 in systemic sclerosis and myositis is significantly higher than anti-Ro60 (SS-A) and isolated anti-Ro52 can be found in up to 37% of myo...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - May 31, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Schulte-Pelkum J, Fritzler M, Mahler M Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Are autoantibodies triggering endothelial cell apoptosis really pathogenic?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Anti-endothelial cell (EC) antibodies (AECA) are a heterogeneous group of antibodies directed against a variety of EC membrane proteins. A pathogenic role for AECA in diseases that involve the vascular system has not been clearly demonstrated. Induction of EC apoptosis appears to be one of the mechanisms by which AECA may exert their effect. AECA from some patients trigger the translocation of anionic phospholipids, most notably phosphatidylserine, from the inner to the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane, and thereafter activation of caspase 3 and cleavage of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase, hallmarks of apoptosis. Apop...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - May 31, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Tobón GJ, Alard JE, Youinou P, Jamin C Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

B-cell depletion in autoimmune diseases. Advances in autoimmunity.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
B cells play an important role in the pathogenesis of the autoimmune diseases. New advances in biological therapy provided a correct way in the management of these pathologies. Depletion of B cells with monoclonal antibodies reach an important place in the control of the diseases. I will present our experience with rituximab in the treatment of 131 patients with different autoimmune conditions, and conclude that this kind of therapy is safe, effective and constitutes a big step in the control of the majority of patients in which humoral response were aberrant. It is one of the many avenues that will allow to have a bet...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - May 31, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Guzman Moreno R Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Long term treatment of rheumatoid arthritis with rituximab.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
B cells play an important role in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Rituximab is a chimeric monoclonal antibody that depletes B-cells by binding to the CD20 surface antigen that has been approved for the treatment of RA. Its efficacy has been clearly demonstrated by different clinical trials and, recently, in long-term observational studies. The use of rituximab in clinical practice has highlighted its efficacy and safety over more than 5 years of treatment, as well as to try to understand the timing for retreatment of patients relapsing after a good initial response. PMID: 19393205 [PubMed - in proces...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - May 31, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Caporali R, Caprioli M, Bobbio-Pallavicini F, Bugatti S, Montecucco C Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

The relevance of vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms for vitamin D research in multiple sclerosis.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
A poor vitamin D status has been associated with several autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS). The receptor for the biologically active metabolite of vitamin D appears to be a key player in these associations, not only as a mediator of the biological effects of vitamin D, but also as a mediator of the regulation of vitamin D metabolism itself. In this concise review, we will discuss the mostly investigated genetic polymorphisms of the vitamin D receptor (VDR), and their consequences for VDR functionality and immune regulation. Next, we will discuss the association of these polymorphisms with MS, and t...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - May 31, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Smolders J, Peelen E, Thewissen M, Menheere P, Cohen Tervaert JW, Hupperts R, Damoiseaux J Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Coxsackievirus infection as an environmental factor in the etiology of type 1 diabetes.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Susceptibility to type 1 diabetes (T1D) is dictated by a complex interplay between genetic determinants and environmental influences. Accumulating evidence strongly supports viral infection as an important factor in the etiology of T1D. To this effect, several viruses have been associated with the capacity to induce or exacerbate T1D in both humans and mice. The most convincing evidence linking viral infection and autoimmunity comes from studies on enteroviruses, particularly coxsackievirus. In this review we will discuss the evidence associating coxsackievirus infection to T1D and present the current state of knowledg...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - May 31, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Richer MJ, Horwitz MS Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Proteomic toolbox for autoimmunity research.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Autoimmune diseases are genetically complex and poorly understood, and may lead to clinically severe consequences including end-organ damage. Given this scenario, early biomarker discovery is becoming increasingly important for early diagnosis and treatment in these diseases. Among the different approaches tried, the application of proteomic analysis of body fluids has great potential as a non-invasive tool for early diagnosis in many different disease settings. During the past 10 years, proteomics-based approaches have made steady inroads into the study of various autoimmune diseases. In this review, we summarize the ...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - May 31, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Wu T, Mohan C Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Signaling pathways regulating RAG expression in B lymphocytes.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Development of B-cell lymphopoiesis is dependent on the presence of recombination activating genes RAG1 and RAG2 enzymes. They control the rearrangements of immunoglobulin variable, diversity and joining region segments, and allow progression of the cellular maturation. RAG1 and RAG2 are successively up- and down-regulated at each B-cell stage to progressively generate a B-cell receptor for which unforeseeable antigenic specificity results from a stochastic process. Therefore, in autoreactive immature B cells, new round of RAG re-expression can be observed to eliminate self-reactivity. In some circumstances, RAG up-reg...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - May 31, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Hillion S, Rochas C, Youinou P, Jamin C Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals

Anti-RNA polymerase III antibodies: a marker of systemic sclerosis with rapid onset and skin thickening progression.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Anti-RNA polymerase III antibodies (ARA) are a specific marker for Systemic Sclerosis (SSc), associated to severe disease with major organ and diffuse cutaneous involvement. In our series, ARA were found in 19 of 216 sera, in 15 cases as isolated antibodies' specificity, with a statistically negative association with other SSc-specific autoantibodies (p: 0.00003). The prevalence of ARA among 73 anticentromere and anti-topoisomerase I (topo I) negative sera, was 20.5%. Patients with isolated ARA had more rapid disease onset, defined as the interval from the appearance of Raynaud's phenomenon to the first symptom other t...
Source: Autoimmunity Reviews - May 31, 2009 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Cavazzana I, Angela C, Paolo A, Stefania Z, Angela T, Franco F Tags: Autoimmun Rev Source Type: journals