Project description:Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the most common chronic rheumatic disease in the paediatric population. JIA comprises a heterogeneous group of disorders with different onset patterns and clinical presentations with the only element in common being chronic joint inflammation. This review sought to evaluate the most relevant and up-to-date evidence on current knowledge regarding the pathogenesis of JIA subtypes to provide a better understanding of these disorders. Despite significant improvements over the past decade, the aetiology and molecular mechanisms of JIA remain unclear. It has been suggested that the immunopathogenesis is characterised by complex interactions between genetic background and environmental factors that may differ between JIA subtypes. Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) haplotypes and non-HLA genes play a crucial role in the abnormal activation of both innate and adaptive immune cells that cooperate in causing the inflammatory process. This results in the involvement of proinflammatory cytokines, including tumour necrosis factor (TNF)α, interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17, IL-21, IL-23, and others. These mediators, interacting with the surrounding tissue, cause cartilage stress and bone damage, including irreversible erosions. The purpose of this review is to provide a comprehensive overview of the genetic background and molecular mechanisms of JIA.
Project description:IntroductionRecently, nephronophthisis (NPH) has been considered a monogenic cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in adults. However, adult-onset NPH is difficult to accurately diagnose and has not been reported in a cohort study. In this study, we assessed the genetic background and clinicopathologic features of adult NPH.MethodsWe investigated 18 sporadic adult patients who were suspected as having NPH by renal biopsy. We analyzed 69 genes that cause hereditary cystic kidney disease and compared clinicopathologic findings between patients with and without pathogenic mutations in NPH-causing genes.ResultsSeven of 18 patients had pathogenic NPH-causing mutations in NPHP1, NPHP3, NPHP4, or CEP164. Compared with patients without pathogenic mutations, those with pathogenic mutations were significantly younger but did not significantly differ in the classic NPH pathologic findings, such as tubular cysts. On the other hand, the number of tubules with thick tubular basement membrane (TBM) duplication, which was defined as >10-μm thickness, was significantly higher in patients with genetically proven adult NPH than in those without pathogenic mutations. α-Smooth muscle actin (α-SMA)-positive myofibroblasts were detected inside thick TBM duplication.ConclusionsIn adult patients with NPH, thick TBM duplication was the specific finding. Our analysis also suggested that older patients tended to have no pathogenic mutations, even when they were suspected to have NPH by renal biopsy. These findings could be the novel clinical clue for the diagnosis of NPH in adult patients.
Project description:BackgroundSandhoff disease (SD) is a rare neurological disease with high clinical heterogeneity. SD in juvenile form is much rarer and it is often misdiagnosed in clinics. Therein, it is necessary to provide more cases and review the literature on juvenile onset SD.Case presentationA 14 years-old boy with eight years of walking difficulties, and was ever misdiagnosed as spinocerebellar ataxia. We found this patient after genetic testing carried rs201580118 and a novel gross deletion in HEXB (g.74012742_74052694del). Through review the literature, we found that was the first gross deletion identified at the 3'end of HEXB, associated with juvenile onset SD from China.ConclusionThis case expanded our knowledge about the genotype and phenotype correlations in SD. Comprehensive genetic testing is important for the diagnosis of unexplained ataxia.
Project description:Aims/hypothesisHeterogeneity in individuals with type 1 diabetes has become more generally appreciated, but has not yet been extensively and systematically characterised. Here, we aimed to characterise type 1 diabetes heterogeneity by creating immunological, genetic and clinical profiles for individuals with juvenile-onset type 1 diabetes in a cross-sectional study.MethodsParticipants were HLA-genotyped to determine HLA-DR-DQ risk, and SNP-genotyped to generate a non-HLA genetic risk score (GRS) based on 93 type 1 diabetes-associated SNP variants outside the MHC region. Islet autoimmunity was assessed as T cell proliferation upon stimulation with the beta cell antigens GAD65, islet antigen-2 (IA-2), preproinsulin (PPI) and defective ribosomal product of the insulin gene (INS-DRIP). Clinical parameters were collected retrospectively.ResultsOf 80 individuals, 67 had proliferation responses to one or more islet antigens, with vast differences in the extent of proliferation. Based on the multitude and amplitude of the proliferation responses, individuals were clustered into non-, intermediate and high responders. High responders could not be characterised entirely by enrichment for the highest risk HLA-DR3-DQ2/DR4-DQ8 genotype. However, high responders did have a significantly higher non-HLA GRS. Clinically, high T cell responses to beta cell antigens did not reflect in worsened glycaemic control, increased complications, development of associated autoimmunity or younger age at disease onset. The number of beta cell antigens that an individual responded to increased with disease duration, pointing to chronic islet autoimmunity and epitope spreading.Conclusions/interpretationCollectively, these data provide new insights into type 1 diabetes disease heterogeneity and highlight the importance of stratifying patients on the basis of their genetic and autoimmune signatures for immunotherapy and personalised disease management.
Project description:Insulin-dependent juvenile-onset diabetes may occur in the context of rare syndromic presentations suggesting monogenic inheritance rather than common multifactorial autoimmune type 1 diabetes. Here, we report the case of a Lebanese patient diagnosed with juvenile-onset insulin-dependent diabetes presenting ketoacidosis, early-onset retinopathy with optic atrophy, hearing loss, diabetes insipidus, epilepsy, and normal weight and stature, who later developed insulin resistance. Despite similarities with Wolfram syndrome, we excluded the WFS1 gene as responsible for this disease. Using combined linkage and candidate gene study, we selected ALMS1, responsible for Alström syndrome, as a candidate gene. We identified a novel splice mutation in intron 18 located 3 bp before the intron-exon junction (IVS18-3T>G), resulting in exon 19 skipping and consequent frameshift generating a truncated protein (V3958fs3964X). The clinical presentation of the patient significantly differed from typical Alström syndrome by the absence of truncal obesity and short stature, and by the presence of ketoacidotic insulin-dependent diabetes, optic atrophy and diabetes insipidus. Our observation broadens the clinical spectrum of Alström syndrome and suggests that ALMS1 mutations may be considered in patients who initially present with an acute onset of insulin-dependent diabetes.
Project description:BackgroundJuvenile-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a rare autoimmune rheumatic disease characterised by more severe disease manifestations, earlier damage accrual, and higher mortality than in adult-onset SLE. We aimed to use machine-learning approaches to characterise the immune cell profile of patients with juvenile-onset SLE and investigate links with the disease trajectory over time.MethodsThis study included patients who attended the University College London Hospital (London, UK) adolescent rheumatology service, had juvenile-onset SLE according to the 1997 American College of Rheumatology revised classification criteria for lupus or the 2012 Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics criteria, and were diagnosed before 18 years of age. Blood donated by healthy age-matched and sex-matched volunteers who were taking part in educational events in the Centre for Adolescent Rheumatology Versus Arthritis at University College London (London, UK) was used as a control. Immunophenotyping profiles (28 immune cell subsets) of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with juvenile-onset SLE and healthy controls were determined by flow cytometry. We used balanced random forest (BRF) and sparse partial least squares-discriminant analysis (sPLS-DA) to assess classification and parameter selection, and validation was by ten-fold cross-validation. We used logistic regression to test the association between immune phenotypes and k-means clustering to determine patient stratification. Retrospective longitudinal clinical data, including disease activity and medication, were related to the immunological features identified.FindingsBetween Sept 5, 2012, and March 7, 2018, peripheral blood was collected from 67 patients with juvenile-onset SLE and 39 healthy controls. The median age was 19 years (IQR 13-25) for patients with juvenile-onset SLE and 18 years (16-25) for healthy controls. The BRF model discriminated patients with juvenile-onset SLE from healthy controls with 90·9% prediction accuracy. The top-ranked immunological features from the BRF model were confirmed using sPLS-DA and logistic regression, and included total CD4, total CD8, CD8 effector memory, and CD8 naive T cells, Bm1, and unswitched memory B cells, total CD14 monocytes, and invariant natural killer T cells. Using these markers patients were clustered into four distinct groups. Notably, CD8 T-cell subsets were important in driving patient stratification, whereas B-cell markers were similarly expressed across the cohort of patients with juvenile-onset SLE. Patients with juvenile-onset SLE and elevated CD8 effector memory T-cell frequencies had more persistently active disease over time, as assessed by the SLE disease activity index 2000, and this was associated with increased treatment with mycophenolate mofetil and an increased prevalence of lupus nephritis. Finally, network analysis confirmed the strong association between immune phenotype and differential clinical features.InterpretationMachine-learning models can define potential disease-associated and patient-specific immune characteristics in rare disease patient populations. Immunological association studies are warranted to develop data-driven personalised medicine approaches for treatment of patients with juvenile-onset SLE.FundingLupus UK, The Rosetrees Trust, Versus Arthritis, and UK National Institute for Health Research University College London Hospital Biomedical Research Centre.
Project description:ObjectiveTo investigate whether single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the genes PRF1, GZMB, UNC13D, and Rab27a, which are involved in natural killer cell dysfunction and known to contribute to the risk of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), confer an increased risk of susceptibility to systemic-onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).MethodsFour SNPs across the PRF1 gene locus, 5 for GZMB, 7 for UNC13D, and 11 for Rab27a were investigated using MassArray genotyping in 133 UK Caucasian patients with systemic-onset JIA and 384 ethnically matched unrelated control subjects. Additional control genotypes were accessed from the data generated by the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium.ResultsNo significant association was found between any SNP within the 4 selected loci and systemic-onset JIA, by either single-point or haplotype analysis.ConclusionThe results of this study demonstrate that genes involved in HLH do not confer a significant risk of association with systemic-onset JIA.
Project description:BackgroundIn absence of previous studies, we assessed how gout impacts relationship and intimacy with spouse/significant other.MethodsWe enrolled a convenience sample of consecutive patients with doctor-diagnosed gout from a community-based outpatient clinic. Nominal groups were conducted until saturation was achieved. Responses were collected verbatim, discussed and then rank-ordered by each participant with votes.ResultsForty-four patients with gout participated in 14 nominal groups, seven male only groups, six female only groups and one group had people with both sexes. Overall, the mean age was 61.7 years (SD, 12.2), mean gout duration was 11.8 years (SD, 11.8), 50% were men, 68% African-American, 43% retired, 48% currently married, 94% were using either allopurinol and/or febuxostat, and 39% had had no gout flares in the last 6 months. The top five responses accounted for 75% of all votes and included physical (28%) or emotional impact (17.4%) on intimacy, disability (12.9%), issues with trust/understanding (10.6%) and social life interference (6.8%). When examining the top-rated concern for each nominal group, physical impact on intimacy was ranked top by eight nominal groups; and emotional impact on intimacy, physical function limitation, trust issues/understanding by two nominal groups each. There were no differences evident by patient gender in the concern that was top-ranked.ConclusionsGout significantly impacts relationship and intimacy with spouse/significant other. Our observation of the physical and emotional impact of gout on intimacy should lead to studies to understand this further and assess if more optimal gout control can improve sex lives of people with gout.
Project description:Background: Systemic-Onset Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (SJIA) is a rare disease associated with dysregulated interleukin (IL)-1 activity. Objectives: To assess the efficacy and safety of Anakinra, an IL-1 receptor antagonist in SJIA and its effects on gene expression profiling. Methods: We conducted a multicenter, randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled trial. The primary objective was to compare the efficacy of a one-month treatment with anakinra (2 mg/kg subcutaneoulsy daily, maximum 100 mg) to a placebo between 2 groups of 12 SJIA patients each. Response was defined by a 30% improvement of the pediatric American College of Rheumatology criteria for JIA, resolution of systemic symptoms and a decrease of at least 50% of both C-reactive protein and erythrocyte sedimentation rate compared to baseline. An intention-to-treat analyze was performed. After Month 1 (M1), patients taking placebo were switched to Anakinra. Secondary objectives included tolerance and efficacy assessment for 12 months. Results: At M1, concluding the randomized trial, there was a significant difference in the response rate between patients treated with Anakinra (8/12 responders) and placebo (1/12) (p=0.003). The number of adverse events, mainly pain to injections, was similar between both groups. Ten patients from the placebo group switched to Anakinra at M1; nine were responders at M2. Between M1 and M12, six patients stopped treatment for an adverse event (Crohn’s disease, hepatitis), a lack of efficacy or a disease flare (2 cases each). Blood gene expression profiling at enrollment and upon follow-up allowed us to identify one set of dysregulated genes that reverted to normal values in the clinical responders and a second set, including interferon-inducible genes, that was induced by Anakinra. Conclusion: Anakinra is an effective treatment of SJIA. Its effect is associated with normalization of blood gene expression profiles in clinical responders and de novo induction of an interferon signature. (Clinical trials registration number: NCT00339157)