The Frequency of Fibromyalgia and its Relationship With Disease Activity in Female Patients With Behçet’s Disease: A Cross Sectional Study

Aim: Behcet's disease (BD) is a vasculitis. Lines of evidence suggest miRNAs as diagnostic and prognostic markers in autoimmune diseases. This study was designed to investigate the potential role of miR-21, miR-146b and miR-326 as biomarkers for diagnosis, predicting organs involvement and measuring BD activity. Patients & methods: In this cross-sectional study, the study groups consisted of 46 BD patients and 70 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers. The expression rates of three miRNAs were determined by quantitative real-time PCR. Results: Our results demonstrated significantly lower expression of miR-21 and miR-146b and higher expression of miR-326 in BD patients. MiR-21 expression rate in patients with severe eye involvement and miR-326 expression rate in patients with uveitis and severe eye involvement were increased. Conclusion: MiR-326 expression rate can be used as a biomarker for prediction of uveitis and severe eye involvement in patients with BD.

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Epidemiology and treatment of Behçet’s disease in the USA: insights from the Rheumatology Informatics System for Effectiveness (RISE) Registry with a comparison with other published cohorts from endemic regions

Arthritis Research & Therapy ◽

10.1186/s13075-021-02615-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 23 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Nevin Hammam ◽

Jing Li ◽

Michael Evans ◽

Julia L. Kay ◽

Zara Izadi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Behçet’S Disease ◽

Behcet’S Disease ◽

Behçet's Disease ◽

Systemic Vasculitis ◽

Patient Characteristics ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Behcet's Disease ◽

Endemic Areas ◽

The U.S

Abstract Background Behçet’s disease (BD), a chronic systemic vasculitis, has distinct geographical and ethnic variation. Data regarding the epidemiology of patients with BD in the U.S. are limited; therefore, we sought to describe BD patient characteristics and medication use in the U.S., and compared them with data from patients from endemic regions. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study using data from the RISE registry (2014–2018). Patients aged ≥ 18 years with BD were included. Sociodemographic and treatment information was extracted. We compared patients from the RISE registry to data from other published studies of patients with BD from endemic areas. Results One thousand three hundred twenty-three subjects with BD from the RISE registry were included. Mean age was 48.7 ± 16.3 years, female to male ratio was 3.8:1, and 66.7% were White. The most frequently used medications included glucocorticoids (67.6%) and colchicine (55.0%). Infliximab and adalimumab were the most used biologics (14.5% and 14.1%, respectively); 3.2% of patients used apremilast. The RISE registry had more women (79.3%), and patients were older compared to previously published BD studies from endemic areas. Methotrexate and TNFi were more commonly reported in RISE (21.8% and 29.4%) compared to studies from Egypt and Turkey. Colchicine, cyclosporine, and cyclophosphamide were more commonly used in cohorts from Egypt, Turkey, and Iran. Conclusions Findings from the largest BD dataset in the U.S. suggest that BD patients are predominantly female. Further research is needed to explore the reasons for the higher prevalence of BD among women in the U.S. and its possible impact on disease severity and management.

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The pattern of cardiovascular manifestations in Egyptian Behçet’s patients and its relation to disease activity

The Egyptian Journal of Internal Medicine ◽

10.1186/s43162-021-00048-x ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 33 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Nashwa Aly Morshedy ◽

Dalia Fayez Mohammed ◽

Fatma Mohammed Badr ◽

Mohammed Abd El monem Teama

Keyword(s):

Disease Activity ◽

Behçet’S Disease ◽

Tricuspid Valve ◽

Behcet’S Disease ◽

Behçet's Disease ◽

Left Ventricular ◽

Ophthalmological Examination ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Behcet's Disease ◽

Venous Involvement

Abstract Background Behçet’s disease (BD) is also referred to as vascular BD when it frequently involves the heart and vessels. This study aimed to describe the cardiovascular manifestations in patients with BD and its correlation to disease activity. We conducted a cross-sectional study on 40 patients diagnosed with BD according to the International Criteria for Behçet’s Disease 2014. All the patients were subjected to detailed history taking, full clinical examination, lab investigations, resting electrocardiogram, trans-thoracic echocardiography, and carotid artery duplex for measuring intimal thickness, peripheral arterial and venous duplex, computed tomography pulmonary angiography, and full ophthalmological examination. Regarding the activity of the disease, it was assessed according to the score of Behçet’s Disease Current Activity Form (BDCAF). Results The most common cardiac manifestation was valvular lesion (67.5%) where the most frequently affected valve was the tricuspid valve (27.5%). Although 25% of patients had left ventricular diastolic dysfunction, only 5% had intracardiac masses. Approximately 52.5% of patients had vascular lesion (deep venous thrombosis 45%, arterial involvement 7.5% [as pulmonary artery thrombosis 5% and aneurysm 2.5%]). Increase in intima media thickness (IMT) was observed in 7.5% of patients, while 60% had abnormal lipid profiles. Hypercholesterolemia was the most common lipid abnormality (50%). BDCAF score range was 4–12, which was significantly correlated to multiple cardiovascular parameters as a mitral, tricuspid valve, and vascular venous involvement (p < 0.05), while not significantly correlated to lipid profile (p > 0.05). Conclusion Cardiovascular complications are frequent among patients with BD, even those who are asymptomatic; therefore, these complications must be screened for early detection and proper management.

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