scholarly journals Adult-Onset Still’s Disease: Clinical Aspects and Therapeutic Approach

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 733
Author(s):  
Stylianos Tomaras ◽  
Carl Christoph Goetzke ◽  
Tilmann Kallinich ◽  
Eugen Feist

Adult-onset Still’s disease (AoSD) is a rare systemic autoinflammatory disease characterized by arthritis, spiking fever, skin rash and elevated ferritin levels. The reason behind the nomenclature of this condition is that AoSD shares certain symptoms with Still’s disease in children, currently named systemic-onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Immune dysregulation plays a central role in AoSD and is characterized by pathogenic involvement of both arms of the immune system. Furthermore, the past two decades have seen a large body of immunological research on cytokines, which has attributed to both a better understanding of AoSD and revolutionary advances in treatment. Additionally, recent studies have introduced a new approach by grouping patients with AoSD into only two phenotypes: one with predominantly systemic features and one with a chronic articular disease course. Diagnosis presupposes an extensive diagnostic workup to rule out infections and malignancies. The severe end of the spectrum of this disease is secondary haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, better known as macrophage activation syndrome. In this review, we discuss current research conducted on the pathogenesis, diagnosis, classification, biomarkers and complications of AoSD, as well as the treatment strategy at each stage of the disease course. We also highlight the similarities and differences between AoSD and systemic-onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis. There is a considerable need for large multicentric prospective trials.

2009 ◽  
Vol 36 (5) ◽  
pp. 1026-1031 ◽  
Author(s):  
TING ZENG ◽  
YU-QIONG ZOU ◽  
MEI-FANG WU ◽  
CHENG-DE YANG

Objective.To describe the onset, clinical features, prognostic factors, and treatment of adult-onset Still’s disease (AOSD) in cases from China.Methods.Sixty-one Chinese patients with AOSD were analyzed retrospectively.Results.Common clinical features were fever (100.0%), rash (88.5%), and arthritis (82.0%). The laboratory findings were as follows: leukocytosis (83.6%), increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate (100.0%), elevated transaminase concentrations (23.0%), elevated ferritin levels (79.6%), negative antinuclear antibody (88.5%), and negative rheumatoid factor (88.5%). Of the 61 patients, 44.3% exhibited a monocyclic disease pattern, 29.5% experienced disease relapse at least once, 16.4% exhibited chronic articular course, and 9.8% died; most deaths were due to pulmonary infection and respiratory failure. Based on the disease course, we divided the 61 patients into 2 groups: those with favorable outcome (cyclic disease course, n = 45) and unfavorable outcome (chronic disease course or death, n = 16). We analyzed the prognostic factors for the 2 groups, and found that pleuritis, interstitial pneumonia, elevated ferritin levels, and failure of fever to subside after 3 days of prednisolone at 1 mg/kg/day were unfavorable prognostic factors for patients with AOSD.Conclusion.Patients with AOSD had complex symptoms with no specific laboratory findings. Our results indicate that AOSD is not a relatively benign disease, especially in cases that are refractory to high doses of prednisone.


2022 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 430
Author(s):  
Charlotte Girard-Guyonvarc’h ◽  
Mathilde Harel ◽  
Cem Gabay

Interleukin 18 (IL-18) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine of the IL-1 family, whose activity is tightly controlled at the level of production, as well as signalization. Notably, it is buffered by its natural inhibitor, IL-18 binding protein (IL-18BP), which is massively present in circulation in normal and in most pathological conditions, thus preventing harmful pro-inflammatory systemic effects of IL-18. IL-18 has long been considered to be involved in the pathophysiology of various inflammatory diseases. However, a first clinical trial using recombinant IL-18BP for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis gave disappointing results. Direct measurements of unbound, bioactive, free form of circulating IL-18 demonstrated that IL-18 was more specifically involved in adult-onset Still’s disease (AOSD) and systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA) but also in their most severe complication, macrophage activation syndrome (MAS). More importantly, administration of recombinant IL-18BP to patients with AOSD, and sJIA with MAS, showed promising results. This review summarizes available data regarding IL-18 and IL-18BP in AOSD and sJIA in mouse models and humans and shows the importance of IL-18/IL-18BP imbalance in these conditions, leading to the conclusion that IL-18, particularly free IL-18, may be a useful biomarker in these diseases and an interesting therapeutic target.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (23) ◽  
pp. 13038
Author(s):  
Ji-Won Kim ◽  
Mi-Hyun Ahn ◽  
Ju-Yang Jung ◽  
Chang-Hee Suh ◽  
Hyoun-Ah Kim

Neutrophils are innate immune phagocytes that play a key role in immune defense against invading pathogens. The main offensive mechanisms of neutrophils are the phagocytosis of pathogens, release of granules, and production of cytokines. The formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) has been described as a novel defense mechanism in the literature. NETs are a network of fibers assembled from chromatin deoxyribonucleic acid, histones, and neutrophil granule proteins that have the ability to kill pathogens, while they can also cause toxic effects in hosts. Activated neutrophils with NET formation stimulate autoimmune responses related to a wide range of inflammatory autoimmune diseases by exposing autoantigens in susceptible individuals. The association between increased NET formation and autoimmunity was first reported in antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-related vasculitis, and the role of NETs in various diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriasis, has since been elucidated in research. Herein, we discuss the mechanistic role of neutrophils, including NETs, in the pathogenesis of systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (SJIA) and adult-onset Still’s disease (AOSD), and provide their clinical values as biomarkers for monitoring and prognosis.


2009 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 347-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
JIN-HYUN WOO ◽  
YOON-KYOUNG SUNG ◽  
JIN-SOOK LEE ◽  
WON TAE CHUNG ◽  
JUNG-YOON CHOE ◽  
...  

Objective.Fcγreceptors (FcγR) have important functions in the regulation of immune response and clearance of immune complex. High levels of immunoglobulins have been observed in patients with the active stage of adult onset Still’s disease (AOSD), and high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin treatment has decreased the disease activity of AOSD. We investigated polymorphisms of FcγR as genetic factors influencing susceptibility or disease course of AOSD in Korea.Methods.We genotyped the FcγRIIA H/R131, IIIA F/V176, and IIIB NA1/NA2 loci in 98 patients with AOSD and 151 healthy controls. Genotyping was performed using sequence-specific PCR. Patients with AOSD were subdivided into groups according to disease course: monocyclic systemic, polycyclic systemic, or chronic articular type. Allelic, genotypic, and haplotypic associations were analyzed by chi-square test.Results.No significant skewing in any of the 3 FcγR polymorphisms was found between Korean AOSD patients and controls. FcγRIIA R/R131 and R/H131 genotype in patients with chronic articular-type disease was more frequent than in controls (p = 0.006 and pcorr = 0.018). No differences of genotypic and allelic frequencies were found between other disease course types and controls. Haplotype IIA R131-IIIA F176-IIIB NA2 was more frequent in AOSD patients than in controls (p = 0.021).Conclusion.Although FcγR polymorphisms are not associated with development of AOSD in Koreans, the haplotype IIA R131-IIIA F176-IIIB NA2 may be associated with AOSD. Also, the FcγRIIA polymorphism may be associated with chronic articular-type AOSD. We need to identify whether these polymorphisms are associated with a response to anti-tumor necrosis factor agents in patients with AOSD.


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