Prevalence and Significance of the Presence of Anti-transglutaminase and Anti-endomysium Antibodies in Patients with Early Inflammatory Joint Disease.

Introduction: Celiac disease (CD) affects the small intestine, leading to a progressive disappearance of intestinal villi, and can be found in association with several other autoimmune and inflammatory conditions. The main objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and the clinical significance of anti-transglutaminase and anti-endomysium antibodies in patients diagnosed with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and spondyloarthritis (SpA).

Methods: We measured anti-transglutaminase and anti-endomysium antibodies in biobanked serum samples at inclusion in two French prospective multicenter cohorts of patients with suspected early rheumatoid arthritis (ESPOIR, n = 713) and spondyloarthritis (DESIR, n = 709).

Dual MPO/PR3 ANCA positivity and vasculitis: insights from a 7-cases study and an AI-powered literature review.

Objectives: Anti-neutrophil cytoplasm antibodies (ANCA)-associated vasculitides (AAV) are rare conditions characterized by inflammatory cell infiltration in small blood vessels, leading to tissue necrosis. While most patients with AAV present antibodies against either myeloperoxidase (MPO) or proteinase 3 (PR3), rare cases of dual positivity for both antibodies (DP-ANCA) have been reported, and their impact on the clinical picture remains unclear. The goal of this study was to investigate the clinical implications, phenotypic profiles and outcomes of patients with DP-ANCA.

Abnormal B cell glycosylation in autoimmunity: A new potential treatment strategy.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) are two autoimmune diseases characterised by the production of pathogenic autoreactive antibodies. Their aetiology is poorly understood. Nevertheless, they have been shown to involve several factors, such as infections and epigenetic mechanisms.

Prescription of Physical Activity by General Practitioners in Type 2 Diabetes: Practice and Barriers in French Guiana.

Background: General practitioners (GPs) are the major primary healthcare players in the management of type 2 diabetes. In addition to a well-balanced diet, physical activity (PA) appears as a necessary non-medicinal therapy in the management of diabetic patients. However, GPs emphasize several obstacles to its prescription.

Metabolic Program of Regulatory B Lymphocytes and Influence in the Control of Malignant and Autoimmune Situations.

Metabolic pathways have been studied for a while in eukaryotic cells. During glycolysis, glucose enters into the cells through the Glut1 transporter to be phosphorylated and metabolized generating ATP molecules. Immune cells can use additional pathways to adapt their energetic needs.

Allergy to Mammalian Meat Linked to Alpha-Gal Syndrome Potentially After Tick Bite in the Amazon: A Case Series.

The past decade has seen the emergence of a new type of food allergy occurring after ingestion of mammalian meat. This allergy is related to immunoglobulin (Ig)E specific for galactose-alpha-1,3 galactose (α-Gal). Originally described in the United States in 2009, other cases have subsequently been described in Australia and in Europe, but still very few in Latin America.

Does Universal Screening for Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Improve Neonatal Outcomes in a Socially Vulnerable Population: A Prospective Study in French Guiana.

Aims/introduction: French Guiana has a high prevalence of metabolic diseases, which are risk factors for gestational diabetes mellitus. Despite routine screening for gestational diabetes, treatment is still challenging because of health inequalities and different cultural representations of disease and pregnancy. This study was conducted to assess the role of early and universal GDM screening on obstetrical and neonatal complications in a socially deprived population.

Hyposialylation Must Be Considered to Develop Future Therapies in Autoimmune Diseases.

Autoimmune disease development depends on multiple factors, including genetic and environmental. Abnormalities such as sialylation levels and/or quality have been recently highlighted. The adjunction of sialic acid at the terminal end of glycoproteins and glycolipids is essential for distinguishing between self and non-self-antigens and the control of pro- or anti-inflammatory immune reactions.

ZIKA Virus infection in pregnant women in French Guiana: More precarious-more at risk.

Background: A recent study in French Guiana suggested that populations living in precarious neighborhoods were more at risk for Chikungunya CHIKV than those living in more privileged areas. The objective of the present study was to test the hypothesis that Zika virus (ZIKV) infection was more frequent in precarious pregnant women than in non-precarious pregnant women, as reflected by their health insurance status.

Methods: A multicentric cross-sectional study was conducted in Cayenne hospital including ZIKV pregnant women with serological or molecular proof of ZIKV during their pregnancy between January and December 2016.

Clinical characteristics and predictive score of dengue vs. chikungunya virus infections.

Background: Chikungunya (CHIKV) and dengue viruses (DENV) are two arboviruses with epidemic potential and similar clinical presentations. The potential life-threatening risk associated with DENV justifies an immediate biological assessment and medical follow-up which may be delayed for CHIKV.

Objectives: To compare the clinical variables that would help differentiate patients infected with CHIKV or DENV, and then to compute a predictive score.

The proportion of asymptomatic infections and spectrum of disease among pregnant women infected by Zika virus: systematic monitoring in French Guiana, 2016.

Zika virus (ZIKV) infection has been associated with complications during pregnancy. Although the presence of symptoms might be a risk factor for complication, the proportion of ZIKV-infected pregnant women with symptoms remains unknown. Following the emergence of ZIKV in French Guiana, all pregnancies in the territory were monitored by RT-PCR and/or detection of ZIKV antibodies.

Keratomycosis complicating pterygium excision.

The authors describe a case of keratomycosis that appeared after the exeresis of a pterygium. A 48-year-old patient had been referred with a red right eye associated with an abscess of the cornea along the ablation zone of the pterygium. The surgery had been performed a month beforehand.

Effects of valproate on Tax and HBZ expression in HTLV-1 and HAM/TSP T lymphocytes.

A determinant of human T-lymphotropic virus-1 (HTLV-1)-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) development is the HTLV-1-infected cell burden. Viral proteins Tax and HBZ, encoded by the sense and antisense strands of the pX region, respectively, play key roles in HTLV-1 persistence. Tax drives CD4(+)-T cell clonal expansion and is the immunodominant viral antigen recognized by the immune response.

Mitochondrial heat shock protein (HSP) 70 synergizes with HSP60 in transducing endothelial cell apoptosis induced by anti-HSP60 autoantibody.

Heat shock protein (HSP) 60, up-regulated by endothelial cells (ECs) to resist stress, is the target of a subgroup of apoptosis-inducing anti-EC autoantibodies (Abs) in human vasculitides. Given that HSP60 is not a transmembrane protein, the mechanism by which these auto-Abs induces apoptosis is unclear. EC membrane proteins were analyzed using bidimensional electrophoresis and Far Western blot, and the HSP60 receptor was identified by mass spectrometry.

HSP60 and anti-HSP60 antibodies in vasculitis: they are two of a kind.

Clinical and pathological manifestations present as heterogeneous in vasculitides. Thus, inflammation can affect arteries, arterioles, capillaries, venules, and veins toward major body regions. One common feature of vascular diseases appears to be the presence of anti-HSP60 autoantibodies arising either consecutively to infection and molecular mimicry reaction with bacterial HSP60, or following recognition of endogenous HSP60 translocated or bound onto the surface of stressed endothelial cells.

IL-6 contributes to the expression of RAGs in human mature B cells.

Mature B cells acquire the capacity to revise rearranged Ig V region genes in secondary lymphoid organs. In previous studies, we demonstrated that cross-linking the BCR and the CD40 induces the expression of the RAG1 and RAG2 enzymes and, thereby, secondary rearrangements. We examine herein the mechanism that underpins RAG1 and RAG2 expression in peripheral and tonsil B cells.

Modulation of endothelial cell damages by anti-Hsp60 autoantibodies in systemic autoimmune diseases.

Heat-shock protein (Hsp) family is made up of heterogeneous proteins of which Hsp60 members are the most studied. It is now generally admitted that Hsp60 is not only a mitochondrial component but can be localized on the membrane cell surface. Considered as a signal danger following infections, Hsp60 can induce the production of anti-Hsp60 antibodies as defense mechanisms against pathogens.

BAFF-modulated repopulation of B lymphocytes in the blood and salivary glands of rituximab-treated patients with Sjögren's syndrome.

Objective: Treatment with rituximab depletes B cells from the peripheral blood (PB) and salivary glands (SGs) of patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (SS). The purpose of this study was to track the repopulation of B cell subsets in PB as well as their subsequent homing into SGs in patients with primary SS treated with rituximab.

Methods: A series of 4-color flow cytometry experiments delineated B cell subsets in 15 patients with primary SS.

Aberrant expression of BAFF by B lymphocytes infiltrating the salivary glands of patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome.

Objective: To identify the cells that produce BAFF in the salivary glands of patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (SS), and to analyze BAFF receptor expression by local T and B lymphocytes.

Methods: We used 3 methods to identify the source of BAFF: in situ hybridization of the transcripts for BAFF combined with staining of membrane markers, regular and real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) of cultured epithelial cells, and RT-PCR of sorted single-cell T and B lymphocytes eluted from salivary glands. Cells expressing TACI, BCMA, and B lymphocyte stimulator receptor 3 (BR-3) were disclosed by combining each specific staining of the receptors with each specific staining of the cells.

BAFF, a new target for intravenous immunoglobulin in autoimmunity and cancer.

Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) has been used to treat autoimmune diseases and lymphoid malignancies with some therapeutic effect. In both these pathological conditions, there is an overproduction of BAFF (for "B-cell-activating factor of the TNF family"), and APRIL (for "a proliferation-inducing ligand"). The presence of antibodies (Abs) with BAFF and APRIL specificities in IVIg preparations was investigated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and Western Blot analysis.

Thyroid dysfunction in primary Sjögren's syndrome: a long-term followup study.

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction and related autoantibodies in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS), and to determine whether these abnormalities develop over time.

Methods: pSS patients (n = 137) and controls (n = 120) were investigated for thyroid dysfunction and for the presence of anti-thyroid peroxidase antibody (anti-TPO) and antithyroglobulin antibody (ATG). Followup time for patients was 1-16 years, and 72 of the 120 controls were reevaluated 3 years after initial evaluation.

Antiendothelial cell antibodies in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Sera from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus have been reported to contain IgM and/or IgG binding to endothelial cells (EC), i.e. anti-EC antibodies (AECA).