Publications by authors named "Thomas El Jammal"

Article Synopsis
  • - Sarcoidosis is a chronic inflammatory disease that arises in genetically susceptible individuals after exposure to certain antigens, primarily affecting the lungs but potentially impacting any organ, including the heart, nervous system, and eyes, which can lead to severe complications.
  • - Diagnosis is typically easier when typical symptoms and biopsy findings are present, but it becomes more complex when symptoms manifest in areas outside the lungs without accompanying lung issues.
  • - First-line treatment for sarcoidosis involves corticosteroids, while immunosuppressive or biologic medications are used for patients who do not respond to steroids or have refractory disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Chronic sarcoidosis is a complex granulomatous disease with limited treatment options that can progress over time. Understanding the molecular pathways contributing to disease would aid in new therapeutic development. To understand whether macrophages from patients with nonresolving chronic sarcoidosis are predisposed to macrophage aggregation and granuloma formation and whether modulation of the underlying molecular pathways influence sarcoidosis granuloma formation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Sensing temperature is vitally important to adapt our body to environmental changes. Local warm detection is required to initiate regulation of cutaneous blood flow, which is part of the peripheral thermoregulatory mechanisms, and thus avoid damage to surrounding tissues. The mechanisms mediating cutaneous vasodilation during local heat stress are impaired with aging.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • - Granulomatous hepatitis (GH) can result from various causes, with sarcoidosis being a key granulomatous disease affecting the liver.
  • - This study examined the potential of serum angiotensin converting enzyme (sACE) levels and lymphopenia as diagnostic markers for sarcoidosis in patients with GH by analyzing records from a French hospital.
  • - Findings showed that lymphopenia had a high specificity for sarcoidosis diagnosis, especially when paired with elevated sACE levels, and this specificity was particularly high (100%) in patients under 50 years old.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study aims to analyze the genetic factors involved in familial sarcoidosis by examining a family of six, including four with the disease and two healthy controls, to understand how these factors influence disease progression and remission.
  • Whole exome sequencing was used to identify pathogenic gene variants, focusing on differences between affected individuals and healthy family members, while following established clinical diagnostic criteria for sarcoidosis.
  • The results highlighted 50 genes with pathogenic variants and identified 18 genes that differentiate between patients with spontaneous remission and those requiring treatment, contributing to a better understanding of the disease's genetic mechanisms and potential treatment responses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: To evaluate the contribution of chest X-ray and chest CT for the diagnosis of sarcoid uveitis.

Methods: Retrospective study on consecutive patients with uveitis of unknown etiology, who underwent both chest X-ray and CT during uveitis diagnosis workup in a tertiary French university hospital.

Results: A total of 914 patients were included.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Sarcoidosis is an inflammatory disease that involves the eyes in 10-55% of cases, sometimes without systemic involvement. All eye structures can be affected, but uveitis is the most common ocular manifestation and causes vision loss. The typical ophthalmological appearance of these uveitis is granulomatous (in cases with anterior involvement), which are usually bilateral and with synechiae.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background/purpose: To assess the efficacy and tolerance of hydroxychloroquine in sarcoidosis-associated uveitis.

Methods: Retrospective study on all patients with sarcoidosis-associated uveitis who were treated with hydroxychloroquine between 2003 and 2019 in a French university hospital.

Results: Twenty-seven patients with sarcoidosis-associated uveitis received hydroxychloroquine.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Still's disease (SD) is an autoinflammatory condition with varying forms, and this study aimed to compare adult-onset SD (AOSD) and systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA) while identifying prognosis.
  • Researchers analyzed data from 238 patients, finding that 64% had AOSD, with symptoms like sore throat and muscle pain being more common in this group, as well as higher levels of liver enzymes and inflammatory markers.
  • Key findings indicated that symptoms like fever and skin rash are linked to better recovery chances, while high lactate dehydrogenase levels suggest a poorer prognosis, supporting the idea that SD can evolve into chronic arthritis if not treated promptly.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a serious syndrome marked by excessive immune activation, and its diagnosis often relies on the HLH-2004 criteria and the Hscore.
  • This study introduces a machine learning model designed to identify HLH utilizing a dataset of 207 adult patients, specifically focusing on those with glycosylated ferritin measurements.
  • The model achieved a sensitivity of 71.4% and excellent predictive values, but more research with larger, diverse groups is needed to enhance its diagnostic capability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The significance of extreme hyperferritinemia and its association with certain diagnoses and prognoses are not well characterized. We performed a retrospective analysis of adult patients with at least one total serum ferritin (TSF) measurement ≥ 5000 µg/L over 2 years, in three university hospitals. Conditions associated with hyperferritinemia were collected, and patients were classified into 10 etiological groups.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Glycosylated ferritin (GF) has been reported as a good diagnostic biomarker for adult-onset Still’s disease (AOSD), but only a few studies have validated its performance. We performed a retrospective study of all adult patients with at least one GF measurement over a 2-year period in one hospital laboratory. The diagnosis of AOSD was based on the expert opinion of the treating physician and validated by two independent investigators.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: To identify multidimensional phenotypes of sarcoid uveitis patients.

Design: Retrospective cohort.

Methods: Consecutive patients with biopsy-proven, presumed, or probable sarcoid uveitis between December 2003 and December 2020 in Lyon were recruited.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Distinguishing macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) from a simple flare of Still's disease (SD) is complex; researchers aimed to identify clinical features and outcomes related to MAS and its predictive factors in SD patients.
  • In a study involving 206 SD patients, 20 (9.7%) experienced MAS, which presented more often with symptoms like hepatomegaly and neurological issues, alongside higher rates of cytopenias, liver problems, and abnormal coagulation.
  • High serum ferritin levels, specifically above 3500 μg/L, demonstrated strong predictive value for MAS development, with specific factors like neurological symptoms and coagulopathy aiding in early detection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Sarcoidosis is a multisystem disease characterized by the development and accumulation of granulomas, the hallmark of an inflammatory process induced by environmental and/or infectious and or genetic factors. This auto-inflammatory disease mainly affects the lungs, the gateway to environmental aggressions and viral infections. We have shown previously that genetic predisposition to sarcoidosis occurring in familial cases is related to a large spectrum of pathogenic variants with, however, a clustering around mTOR (mammalian Target Of Rapamycin)-related pathways and autophagy regulation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Sarcoidosis is a systemic granulomatous disease of unknown cause characterized by a wide variety of presentations. Its diagnosis is based on three major criteria: a clinical presentation compatible with sarcoidosis, the presence of non-necrotizing granulomatous inflammation in one or more tissue samples, and the exclusion of alternative causes of granulomatous disease. Many conditions may mimic a sarcoid-like granulomatous reaction.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Sarcoidosis is a multi-system disease of unknown etiology characterized by the formation of granulomas in various organs. It affects people of all ethnic backgrounds and occurs at any time of life but is more frequent in African Americans and Scandinavians and in adults between 30 and 50 years of age. Sarcoidosis can affect any organ with a frequency varying according to ethnicity, sex and age.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Spondyloarthritis (Spa), Behçet's disease (BD) and sarcoidosis are major systemic inflammatory diseases worldwide. They are all multisystem pathologies and share a possible ocular involvement, especially uveitis. We hereby describe selected cases who were referred by ophthalmologists to our internal medicine department for unexplained uveitis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Sarcoidosis is a systemic disease of unknown etiology, characterized by the presence of non-caseating granulomas in various organs, mainly the lungs, and the lymphatic system. Since the individualization of sarcoidosis-lymphoma association by Brincker et al., the relationship between sarcoidosis or granulomatous syndromes and malignancies has been clarified through observational studies worldwide.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common autoimmune inflammatory arthritis in adults. In the past decade, many treatments have emerged to expand the therapeutic armamentarium of rheumatologists. Among emerging treatments, Janus Kinase inhibitors (JAKi) are promising in treating RA and several other inflammatory conditions, such as psoriatic arthritis (PsA).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Sarcoidosis is one of the leading causes of inflammatory eye disease. Any part of the eye and its adnexal tissues can be involved. Uveitis and optic neuropathy are the main manifestations, which may require systemic treatment.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The coronavirus disease-19 pandemic (COVID-19), which appeared in China in December 2019 and rapidly spread throughout the world, has forced clinicians and scientists to take up extraordinary challenges. This unprecedented situation led to the inception of numerous fundamental research protocols and many clinical trials. It quickly became apparent that although COVID-19, in the vast majority of cases, was a benign disease, it could also develop a severe form with sometimes fatal outcomes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Sarcoidosis is a multi-system disease of unknown etiology characterized by granuloma formation in various organs (especially lung and mediastinohilar lymph nodes). In more than half of patients, the disease resolves spontaneously. When indicated, it usually responds to corticosteroids, the first-line treatment, but some patients may not respond or tolerate them.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Three Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors, ruxolitinib, tofacitinib, and baricitinib, are currently approved by the FDA/EMA for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and ulcerative rectocolitis. The inhibition of JAK/STAT signaling by these small molecules, downstream of several cytokine receptors, results in lower pro-inflammatory gene expression. Given the cytokine profiles observed in rheumatologic diseases, most of the recent therapeutic strategies target cytokines, either directly or through their receptors.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF