A study has identified several common genetic pathways between Parkinson’s disease and autoimmune diseases. Specifically, researchers have used a genome-wide conjunctional analysis to identify 17 novel loci that overlap the conditions…
Somatic Mosaicism Can Complicate Diagnosis of Autoimmune Disease
New methods of gene sequencing have resulted in improved identification of mutations in patients and increased availability of genetic testing in rare diseases. Despite these exciting advances, a majority of patients lack identifiable mutations and the underlying disease etiology remains an enigma. Somatic mosaicism (SM) may be an explanation for some of these clinically challenging…
Parkinson’s, Autoimmune Disorders May Share Genetic Common Ground
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Parkinson’s disease and some autoimmune diseases may have genetic risk factors in common, raising the possibility that the immune system may influence Parkinson’s disease pathogenesis, new research suggests. The study, which analyzed data from genome-wide association studies, “showed a considerable genetic overlap between [Parkinson’s disease] and autoimmune diseases, in particular, type 1…
Environmental Factors in Pediatric Systemic Autoimmune Diseases
Systemic autoimmune diseases are thought to result from immune dysregulation in genetically susceptible individuals who were exposed to environmental risk factors. Many studies have identified genetic risk factors for these diseases, but concordance rates among monozygotic twins are 25–40%, suggesting that nonheritable environmental factors play a more prominent role.1,2 Through carefully conducted epidemiologic and other…
Herpes Zoster & the Risk of Stroke in Patients with Autoimmune Diseases
Herpes zoster (HZ) infection, also known as shingles, is caused by reactivation of latent varicella-zoster virus infection generally acquired decades earlier. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that the incidence of stroke immediately following HZ infection is increased in patients with autoimmune diseases compared with the incidence of stroke at later time points. Results: In patients with autoimmune diseases, incident HZ was associated with as much as a twofold increased risk of stroke. Prompt antiviral therapy was associated with lower incidence of subsequent stroke…
Assessing Autoimmune Disease Symptoms in Silicone Breast Implant Recipients
My nurse, Joanne, took me aside before I began my next consult. “Room No. 5, breast implant patient. Her lawyer organized the records.” She handed me a hefty three-ring notebook organized by color-coded tabs. “Her attorney called just now,” Joanne raised an eyebrow, “and told me to tell you that, to save time, he highlighted…
Type 1 Diabetes Often Comes with Other Autoimmune Diseases
(Reuters Health)—People with type 1 diabetes often develop other autoimmune disorders, such as thyroid and gastrointestinal diseases, and a recent study yields new information about this link. In the study, 27% of patients with type 1 diabetes had at least one other autoimmune disorder. But the new study also held some surprises about how early…
Targeted Therapy for Scleroderma Fibrosis
Scleroderma, or systemic sclerosis (SSc), is an autoimmune disease characterized by vasculopathy and fibrosis. Although relatively rare, with a prevalence in North America of approximately 300 per 1 million people, SSc is associated with significant morbidity and high rates of mortality.1 Patients with scleroderma have four times greater mortality than age- and sex-matched controls, with…
Immunotherapy Largely Untested in Patients with Autoimmune Disease
(Reuters Health)—The safety and effectiveness of cancer immunotherapy is largely unknown in patients with autoimmune diseases, researchers say—and that might account for up to a quarter of individuals with lung cancer. Patients with autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis or psoriasis, have been mostly excluded from clinical trials testing immunotherapies over fears that…
2015 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting: T Follicular Helper Cells Emerge as Potential Treatment Target for Autoimmune Diseases
SAN FRANCISCO—T follicular helper (Tfh) cells are emerging as an important subset of cells now recognized as important to facilitating an adaptive immune response. Developed during dendritic cell priming in vivo, these cells represent one subgroup among many of effector cells that result after naive CD4+T cells differentiate. Other well-known subgroups include Th1 cells, Th2…