Anti-histone and anti-nucleosome rather than anti-dsDNA antibodies associate with IFN-induced biomarkers in Sudanese and Swedish Systemic Lupus Erythematosus patients.

Objectives: In SLE, anti-dsDNA can co-occur with autoantibodies against other chromatin components, like histones and nucleosomes. These antibodies induce type-1 interferon production, a hallmark of SLE. We measured antinuclear antibody (ANA) sub-specificities and investigated their associations to inflammatory biomarkers including interferon-regulated chemokines.

Associations with thrombosis are stronger for antiphosphatidylserine/prothrombin antibodies than for the Sydney criteria antiphospholipid antibody tests in SLE.

Objectives: Antiphosphatidylserine/prothrombin complex antibodies (aPS/PT) are risk factors for thrombosis, yet further validation of their clinical relevance in different ethnic groups is required. We investigated the performance of aPS/PT of IgA/G/M isotypes among Sudanese and Swedish systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients.

Methods: Consecutive SLE patients/matched controls from Sudan (n = 91/102) and Sweden (n = 332/163) were included.

Accumulation of antinuclear associated antibodies in circulating immune complexes is more prominent in SLE patients from Sudan than Sweden.

The role of anti-nuclear autoantibody (ANA) specificities in immune complexes (IC) formation has been studied to a limited extent in SLE, and not at all in African SLE patients. We compared ANA in IC from Sudanese and Swedish SLE patients. We included 93 Sudanese and 332 Swedish SLE patients fulfilling the 1982 ACR criteria.

Sudanese and Swedish patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: immunological and clinical comparisons.

Objective: SLE is known to have an aggressive phenotype in black populations, but data from African cohorts are largely lacking. We therefore compared immunological and clinical profiles between Sudanese and Swedish patients using similar tools.

Methods: Consecutive SLE patients from Sudan (n = 115) and Sweden (n = 340) and from 106 Sudanese and 318 Swedish age- and sex-matched controls were included.

Occurrence of anti-CCP2 and RF isotypes and their relation to age and disease severity among Sudanese patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: Anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide 2 antibodies (anti-CCP2) and rheumatoid factor (RF) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been extensively assessed in industrialized countries. We investigated the diagnostic and prognostic impact of anti-CCP2 and RF isotypes in a Sudanese cross-sectional RA cohort.

Methods: Consecutive RA patients (n = 281) diagnosed according to the 1987 ACR criteria were included 2008-2010.

Active Rheumatoid Arthritis in Central Africa: A Comparative Study Between Sudan and Sweden.

Objective: To compare clinical characteristics and treatment between simultaneously investigated Sudanese and Swedish outpatients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: Outpatients with RA from Sudan (n = 281) and Sweden (n = 542) diagnosed according to the 1987 American College of Rheumatology criteria were recruited between December 2008 and September 2010 and compared concerning clinical presentation, treatment, and laboratory findings, including immunoglobulin M with rheumatoid factor (IgM-RF).

Results: Sudanese patients had lower inclusion age (median 49 vs 68 yrs), disease duration (48 vs 107 mos), and disease onset age (43 vs 56 yrs) as compared with Swedish patients (p < 0.