Publications by authors named "Matas-Garcia A"

Objective: Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) depletion/deletions syndrome (MDDS) comprises a group of diseases caused by primary autosomal defects of mtDNA maintenance. Our objective was to study the etiology of MDDS in 4 patients who lack pathogenic variants in known genetic causes.

Methods: Whole exome sequencing of the probands was performed to identify pathogenic variants.

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Objectives: Autoantibodies targeting intracellular proteins are common in various autoimmune diseases. In the context of myositis, the pathologic significance of these autoantibodies has been questioned due to the assumption that autoantibodies cannot enter living muscle cells. This study aims to investigate the validity of this assumption.

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Purpose Of Review: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) and myositis are two different entities that may coexist as an overlap syndrome. Immunological biomarkers such as anti-PM/Scl or anti-Ku reinforce the syndrome. This review is focused on the treatment of different and characteristic manifestations of this syndrome.

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Article Synopsis
  • Myositis is an autoimmune muscle disease characterized by autoantibodies that target proteins within muscle cells, but their impact on disease development was previously unclear.* -
  • This study utilized confocal microscopy and bulk RNA sequencing on muscle biopsies to investigate the presence and effects of these autoantibodies, revealing they accumulate in muscle fibers and disrupt the normal function of their target proteins.* -
  • Findings showed that the internalization of these autoantibodies led to significant changes in gene expression and function, indicating that they play a crucial role in causing the pathology associated with myositis.*
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This was a retrospective, multicenter study that aimed to report the characteristics of type 3 Gaucher disease (GD3) patients in Spain, including the genotype, phenotype, therapeutic options, and treatment responses. A total of 19 patients with GD3 from 10 Spanish hospitals were enrolled in the study (14 men, 5 women). The median age at disease onset and diagnosis was 1 and 1.

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  • Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) improve cancer treatment but can trigger immune-related conditions, including dermatomyositis (DM).
  • This study analyzed three DM cases linked to ICI from a patient cohort and reviewed existing literature on the topic.
  • All cases were associated with specific ICI drugs and showed a strong presence of anti-TIF1γ autoantibodies, suggesting these antibodies may contribute to developing DM in some patients.
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Objectives: Myositis is a heterogeneous family of diseases including dermatomyositis (DM), immune-mediated necrotising myopathy (IMNM), antisynthetase syndrome (AS) and inclusion body myositis (IBM). Myositis-specific autoantibodies define different subtypes of myositis. For example, patients with anti-Mi2 autoantibodies targeting the chromodomain helicase DNA-binding protein 4 (CHD4)/NuRD complex (a transcriptional repressor) have more severe muscle disease than other DM patients.

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  • Inflammatory myopathy includes various immune-mediated diseases like dermatomyositis and inclusion body myositis, with immune checkpoint inhibitors potentially causing a form known as ICI-myositis.
  • The study analyzed gene expression in muscle biopsies from various myositis patients, using bulk and single nuclei RNA sequencing techniques.
  • Results revealed three types of ICI-myositis based on gene expression profiles: ICI-DM, ICI-MYO1 (which shows high inflammation and myocarditis), and ICI-MYO2 (which has low inflammation). All subsets exhibited overexpression of genes in the IL6 pathway, with specific pathway activations noted in ICI-DM and ICI-MYO1.
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Complement proteins are deposited in the muscles of patients with myositis. However, the local expression and regulation of complement genes within myositis muscle have not been well characterized. In this study, bulk RNA sequencing (RNAseq) analyses of muscle biopsy specimens revealed that complement genes are locally overexpressed and correlate with markers of myositis disease activity, including the expression of interferon-gamma (IFNγ)-induced genes.

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Introduction: Disulfiram-induced-encephalopathy is a rare complication that has been well described in adults. Although it usually occurs in acute intoxication with high doses of disulfiram, late onset encephalopathy has also been reported. Some authors propose the inhibition of dopamine beta-hydroxylase mediated by toxic metabolites of disulfiram as the main responsible, but the exact mechanism remains unclear.

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Objective: The objective of this study was to analyse the clinico-serological and histological phenotypes of patients with SSc with associated myopathy.

Methods: From November 2002 to September 2020, 52 patients with SSc underwent a muscle biopsy for suspected myopathy. We established two subgroups according to the histological findings based on the presence of isolated fibrosis or fibrosis together with significant inflammation.

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Dermatomyositis is a systemic vasculopathy mainly affecting skin, muscle and lung, but may affect the gastrointestinal tract. We aim to describe clinical characteristics of patients with severe gastrointestinal involvement related to dermatomyositis in our center and medical literature. We retrospectively analysed these patients in our center, including cases of erosions/ulcers, perforation or digestive bleeding.

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Article Synopsis
  • Anoctamin 5 (ANO5) is linked to a range of muscle issues, from mild symptoms to serious weaknesses, due to genetic mutations.
  • A study analyzed 1700 muscle biopsies over several years, focusing on cases like those involving ANO5 to understand the conditions better.
  • Three patients with different muscle problems were identified, all sharing a common genetic mutation, highlighting the disease's complexity and varied symptoms, as well as unique patterns seen in muscle biopsies.
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Background And Objective: Drug-induced myopathy is among the most common causes of muscle disease. An association has recently been described between programmed death-1 (PD-1)/PD-1 ligand (PD-L1) inhibitors and immune-related adverse events (irAE) affecting the muscle. Here, we report the clinical and pathological findings of nine unrelated patients with PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitors-associated myopathy.

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Background: M-type phospholipase A2 receptor (APLA2R) is considered the major antigen involved in the pathogenesis of adult primary membranous nephropathy (MN), which is the leading cause of non-diabetic nephrotic syndrome. Antibodies to this antigen have been proved to be an excellent biomarker of disease activity in primary MN. In fact, preliminary data suggest that the higher the antibody level the more proteinuria, and that a decrease in antibody level precedes the remission of proteinuria, but more solid evidence is needed.

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