Background
Thyroid autoimmunity is the most frequent condition involved in polyautoimmunity (PolyA). However, the frequency of latent and overt PolyA in patients with autoimmune thyroid disease ...(AITD) as the index condition is unknown. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of these types of PolyA in patients with AITD as the index condition.
Methods
This study adhered to the relevant sections of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐analyses (PRISMA) guideline. Searches through MEDLINE, Embase and LILACS were done to find articles in Spanish and English. Relevant vocabulary terms and key terms related to AITD and other autoimmune diseases were used. Two investigators independently screened the eligible studies, extracted data and assessed the quality and risk of bias. Fixed and random effect models were used accordingly. Cluster analysis was used to determine similarities among diseases in the articles included (based on Jaccard index).
Results
A total of 56 articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Of these, 25 were case‐controls, 17 were cohorts, and 14 were cross‐sectional studies. These studies included a total of 47 509 patients. Female was the predominant gender and included 38 950 patients (81.23%, 95% CI: 80.85‐81.60). Graves’ disease (GD) was the most common type of thyroid autoimmunity (69.16%, 95% CI: 68.23‐70.07). Globally, overt PolyA was found in 13.46% of the patients with AITD. This type of PolyA was represented mainly by type 1 diabetes and autoimmune gastritis. Latent PolyA was presented in 17.45% of the patients, and anti‐proinsulin, anti‐parietal cells and dsDNA antibodies were the most common. HT had the highest frequency of overt PolyA in Europe (15.60%, 95% CI: 14.72‐16.53), whereas latent PolyA was most common in patients with GD in Asia (21.03%, 95% CI: 17.76‐24.71). Overt and latent PolyA were associated with gastrointestinal and endocrinological ADs in most of cases and clustered with rheumatological, dermatological and neurological ADs.
Conclusions
Latent and overt PolyA are common in patients with AITD. These results provide insightful information for early diagnosis and management of concurrent ADs in patients with AITD. Aggregation of ADs in different clusters may help to define different phenotypes associated with thyroid autoimmunity that are critically relevant in clinical settings.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been categorized as evolving in overlapping phases. First, there is a viral phase that may well be asymptomatic or mild in the majority, perhaps 80% of ...patients. The pathophysiological mechanisms resulting in minimal disease in this initial phase are not well known. In the remaining 20% of cases, the disease may become severe and/or critical. In most patients of this latter group, there is a phase characterized by the hyperresponsiveness of the immune system. A third phase corresponds to a state of hypercoagulability. Finally, in the fourth stage organ injury and failure occur. Appearance of autoinflammatory/autoimmune phenomena in patients with COVID-19 calls attention for the development of new strategies for the management of life-threatening conditions in critically ill patients. Antiphospholipid syndrome, autoimmune cytopenia, Guillain-Barré syndrome and Kawasaki disease have each been reported in patients with COVID-19. Here we present a scoping review of the relevant immunological findings in COVID-19 as well as the current reports about autoinflammatory/autoimmune conditions associated with the disease. These observations have crucial therapeutic implications since immunomodulatory drugs are at present the most likely best candidates for COVID-19 therapy. Clinicians should be aware of these conditions in patients with COVID-19, and these observations should be considered in the current development of vaccines.
•Autoimmune and autoinflammatory conditions may be triggered by SARS-CoV-2.•Bystander activation and molecular mimicry could explain the appearance of these conditions.•In severe and critical patients, a cytokine storm syndrome (CSS) and a hypercoagulable state occur and may overlap.•CSS may promote the appearance of autoimmune and autoinflammatory-like conditions.•These observations should be considered in the current development of vaccines.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Therapeutic options including antimalarials, antivirals, and vaccines ...are under study. Meanwhile the current pandemic has called attention over old therapeutic tools to treat infectious diseases. Convalescent plasma (CP) constitutes the first option in the current situation, since it has been successfully used in other coronaviruses outbreaks. Herein, we discuss the possible mechanisms of action of CP and their repercussion in COVID-19 pathogenesis, including direct neutralization of the virus, control of an overactive immune system (i.e., cytokine storm, Th1/Th17 ratio, complement activation) and immunomodulation of a hypercoagulable state. All these benefits of CP are expected to be better achieved if used in non-critically hospitalized patients, in the hope of reducing morbidity and mortality.
•Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) is an emerging viral threat with major repercussions for public health.•There is not specific treatment for COVID-19.•Convalescent plasma (CP) emerges as the first option of management for hospitalized patients with COVID-19.•Transference of neutralizing antibodies helps to control COVID-19 infection and modulates inflammatory response.•Other plasma components may enhance the antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties of CP.
Abstract Autoimmune diseases (ADs) are chronic and heterogeneous conditions that affect specific target organs or multiple organ systems. The chronic nature of these diseases places a significant ...burden on the utilization of medical care, direct and indirect economic costs, and quality of life. ADs are observed in genetically susceptible individuals in whom their clinical expression is modified by permissive and protective environments occurring over time. These are complex traits, meaning that their inheritance does not follow a single-gene dominant or single-gene recessive Mendelian law, and thus that they are polygenic. ADs are often diagnosed according to classification criteria, however they share similar subphenotypes including signs and symptoms, non-specific autoantibodies and other immune changes, which are prone to taxonomic problems. Polyautoimmunity is defined as the presence of more than one AD in a single patient. When three or more ADs coexist, this condition is called multiple autoimmune syndrome (MAS), which represents the best example of polyautoimmunity as well as the effect of a single genotype on diverse autoimmune phenotypes. Its study will provide important clues to elucidate the common mechanisms of ADs (i.e., the autoimmune tautology).
Autoimmunity has emerged as a characteristic of the post-COVID syndrome (PCS), which may be related to sex. In order to further investigate the relationship between SARS-CoV-2 and autoimmunity in ...PCS, a clinical and serological assessment on 100 patients was done. Serum antibody profiles against self-antigens and infectious agents were evaluated by an antigen array chip for 116 IgG and 104 IgM antibodies. Thirty pre-pandemic healthy individuals were included as a control group. The median age of patients was 49 years (IQR: 37.8 to 55.3). There were 47 males. The median post-COVID time was 219 (IQR: 143 to 258) days. Latent autoimmunity and polyautoimmunity were found in 83% and 62% of patients, respectively. Three patients developed an overt autoimmune disease. IgG antibodies against IL-2, CD8B, and thyroglobulin were found in more than 10% of the patients. Other IgG autoantibodies, such as anti-interferons, were positive in 5-10% of patients. Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies were found in > 85% of patients and were positively correlated with autoantibodies, age, and body mass index (BMI). Few autoantibodies were influenced by age and BMI. There was no effect of gender on the over- or under-expression of autoantibodies. IgG anti-IFN-λ antibodies were associated with the persistence of respiratory symptoms. In summary, autoimmunity is characteristic of PCS, and latent autoimmunity correlates with humoral response to SARS-CoV-2.
The primary immunodeficiency diseases (PIDs) include many genetic disorders that affect different components of the innate and adaptive responses. The number of distinct genetic PIDs has increased ...exponentially with improved methods of detection and advanced laboratory methodology. Patients with PIDs have an increased susceptibility to infectious diseases and non-infectious complications including allergies, malignancies and autoimmune diseases (ADs), the latter being the first manifestation of PIDs in several cases. There are two types of PIDS. Monogenic immunodeficiencies due to mutations in genes involved in immunological tolerance that increase the predisposition to develop autoimmunity including polyautoimmunity, and polygenic immunodeficiencies characterized by a heterogeneous clinical presentation that can be explained by a complex pathophysiology and which may have a multifactorial etiology. The high prevalence of ADs in PIDs demonstrates the intricate relationships between the mechanisms of these two conditions. Defects in central and peripheral tolerance, including mutations in AIRE and T regulatory cells respectively, are thought to be crucial in the development of ADs in these patients. In fact, pathology that leads to PID often also impacts the Treg/Th17 balance that may ease the appearance of a proinflammatory environment, increasing the odds for the development of autoimmunity. Furthermore, the influence of chronic and recurrent infections through molecular mimicry, bystander activation and super antigens activation are supposed to be pivotal for the development of autoimmunity. These multiple mechanisms are associated with diverse clinical subphenotypes that hinders an accurate diagnosis in clinical settings, and in some cases, may delay the selection of suitable pharmacological therapies. Herein, a comprehensively appraisal of the common mechanisms among these conditions, together with clinical pearls for treatment and diagnosis is presented.
•Primary immunodeficiencies are frequently accompanied by autoimmune disease.•T cell proliferation, and activity can influence the balance between Treg and T helper cells.•Infections play a role via molecular mimicry, innocent bystander, or epitope spreading.•Autoimmunity is a “warning sign” for suspecting an immunodeficiency disorder.
Abstract The fact that autoimmune diseases share subphenotypes, physiopathological mechanisms and genetic factors has been called autoimmune tautology, and indicates that they have a common origin. ...The autoimmune phenotypes vary depending on the target cell and the affected organ, gender, ancestry, trigger factors and age at onset. Ten shared characteristics supporting this logical theory are herein reviewed.
Autoimmunity linked to COVID-19 immunization has been recorded throughout the pandemic. Herein we present six new patients who experienced relapses of previous autoimmune disease (AD) or developed a ...new autoimmune or autoinflammatory condition following vaccination. In addition, we documented additional cases through a systematic review of the literature up to August 1st, 2022, in which 464 studies (928 cases) were included. The majority of patients (53.6%) were women, with a median age of 48 years (IQR: 34 to 66). The median period between immunization and the start of symptoms was eight days (IQR: 3 to 14). New-onset conditions were observed in 81.5% (n: 756) of the cases. The most common diseases associated with new-onset events following vaccination were immune thrombocytopenia, myocarditis, and Guillain-Barré syndrome. In contrast, immune thrombocytopenia, psoriasis, IgA nephropathy, and systemic lupus erythematosus were the most common illnesses associated with relapsing episodes (18.5%, n: 172). The first dosage was linked with new-onset events (69.8% vs. 59.3%, P = 0.0100), whereas the second dose was related to relapsing disease (29.5% vs. 59.3%, P = 0.0159). New-onset conditions and relapsing diseases were more common in women (51.5% and 62.9%, respectively; P = 0.0081). The groups were evenly balanced in age. No deaths were recorded after the disease relapsed, while 4.7% of patients with new-onset conditions died (P = 0.0013). In conclusion, there may be an association between COVID-19 vaccination and autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Some ADs seem to be more common than others. Vaccines and SARS-CoV-2 may induce autoimmunity through similar mechanisms. Large, well-controlled studies are warranted to validate this relationship and assess additional variables such as genetic and other environmental factors.
•Hematological, neurological, renal, cardiac, and cutaneous autoimmunity have been described after the COVID-19 vaccination.•The history of autoimmunity should be evaluated in patients who will receive COVID-19 vaccines.•The risk of such reactions is low and should not deter the use of COVID-19 or any other vaccinations.
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