Objective: To assess the 6-month effectiveness of the first rituximab (RTX) course in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to identify possible predictors of response. Method: 10 European registries submitted anonymised datasets (baseline, 3- and 6-month follow-up) from patients with RA who had started RTX, and datasets were pooled and analysed. Heterogeneity between countries was analysed by analysis of variance. Predictors of response were identified by logistic regression. Results: 2019 patients were included (mean age/diseaseduration 53.8/12.1 years, 80.3% female, 85.6% rheumatoid factor (RF) positive and 76.8% (456/594 patients) anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies (anti-CCP) positive). For these patients an average of 2.7 disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) (range 0-10) had failed, and RTX was given as the first biological agent in 36.6% of patients. Larger 6-month improvement in DAS28 was observed in RF-positive and anti-CCP-positiveversus seronegative patients. Conclusion: In this large observational cohort of patients with RA treated with RTX, seropositive patients achieved significantly greater reductions in DAS28 at 6 months than seronegative patients.
COBISS.SI-ID: 29860569
Patients with recurrent pregnancy loss and a history of thrombotic events have often been noted to have autoantibodies directed at annexin A5. However, the relationship of these autoantibodies to immunopathology is still unknown, although it has been proposed that they have a direct effect on the function of annexin A5. Annexin A5 may be a significant immunological target with pathologic implications. Atomicforcemicroscopy is a powerful tool to study the pathologic mechanisms of autoantibodies and the data herein reflect the potential of anti-annexin A5 antibodies that produce pathology in a number of varied but overlapping clinical conditions, including autoimmune thrombosis and antiphospholipid syndrome.
COBISS.SI-ID: 24569895
Vaccines have undoubtedly brought overwhelming benefits to mankind and are considered safe and effective. Nevertheless, they can occasionally stimulate autoantibody production or even a recently defined syndrome known as autoimmune/inflammatory syndrome induced by adjuvants (ASIA). There is scarce data regarding autoimmune response after seasonal/influenza A (H1N1) vaccine in patients with autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic disease (AIRD). The objective of our study was therefore to determine autoimmune response in a large group of AIRD patients vaccinated against seasonal and/or H1N1 influenza. We conducted a prospective cohort study with a 6-month follow-up. Two-hundred and eighteen patients with AIRD (50 vaccinated against seasonal influenza, six against H1N1, 104 against both, 58 non-vaccinated controls) and41 apparently healthy controls (nine vaccinated against seasonal influenza, three against H1N1, 18 against both, 11 non-vaccinated controls) were included. Blood samples were taken and screened for autoantibodies šantinuclear antibody (ANA), anti-extractable nuclear antigen (anti-ENA), anticardiolipin (aCL) IgG/IgM antibodies, anti-beta 2-glycoprotein I (anti-beta2GPI)đ at inclusion in the study, before each vaccination, 1 month after the last vaccination and 6 months after inclusion. For non-vaccinated participants (patients and healthy controls) blood samples were taken at the time of inclusion in the study and 6 months later. We report that after the administration of seasonal/H1N1 vaccine there were mostly transient changes inautoantibody production in AIRD patients and in healthy participants. However, a small subset of patients, especially ANA-positive patients, had a tendency towards anti-ENA development. Although no convincing differences between the seasonal and H1N1 vaccines were observed, our results imply that there might be a slight tendency of the H1N1 vaccine towards aCL induction. (Abs. trunc. at 2000 ch.)
COBISS.SI-ID: 29645273
The natural structuring of the immune system is responsible for the functionalphysiological state of the body. The development of natural autoantibodies involved in homeostasis relies on the ability to distinguish between exposed/masked and altered/non-altered self antigens. The objectives of this article were to address the relationships between antigen and autoantibodies against serum amyloid A (SAA), define SAA protein concentrations in 219 blood donor (BD) sera and determine their autoantibody levels and search for possible clinical associations with autoimmune and thrombotic diseases. Just recently, an increasing number of reports have indicated significantly decreased levels of autoantibodies against pro-inflammatory molecules, such as anti-TNF-alpha, anti-IL-6, or anti-CRP found in diseased conditions, as compared to healthy donors, or even to less severe disease conditions. In accord with this line of thought, our data indicate a predominant presence of anti-SAA autoantibodies in healthy BDs (above 95% as tested by the immunoblot analysis, n = 41). Using ELISA, high levels of anti-SAA antibodies were confirmed with a median OD = 0.996 for the BD group (n = 219). This suggests that anti-SAA antibodies might have a physiological role in homeostasis and/or the innate immune system and could actually be a part of the natural antibody repertoire. Significantly, lower median levels were found in patients with arterial thrombosis. Based on 219 BDsera, we could establish a new median value of 20 mug/ml for SAA antigen anda cut-off value of 114.7 mug/ml (97.5th percentile). Significantly, higher concentrations of SAA were observed for antiphospholipid syndrome, rheumatoid arthritic, and SLE patients.
COBISS.SI-ID: 28414681
Antiprothrombin antibodies, measured with phosphatidylserine/prothrombin complex (aPS/PT) ELISA, have been reported to be associated with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). They are currently being evaluated as a potential classification criterion for this autoimmune disease, characterized by thromboses and obstetric complications. Most importantly, the association between the presence of IgG/IgM aPS/PT and lupus anticoagulant activity was highly significant. Taken together, aPS/PT antibodies detected with the in-house or commercial ELISA represent a promising serological marker for APS and its subsets.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3578481