Role of serum calprotectin in diagnosis of inflammatory bowel diseases in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (preliminary results)

Background. Patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) often have lesions of the musculoskeletal system, which is an extra-intestinal manifestation and mainly belongs to the group of seronegative spondyloarthritis (SPA). Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is one of the main forms of diseases from the group of spondyloarthritis, associated with IBD. The frequency of AS in patients with IBD is of interest for elucidating the general pathophysiology of diseases. Colonoscopy is required to diagnose intestinal pathology. Colonoscopy in patients with AS to detect IBD, especially in the absence of intestinal symptoms, is very diffcult. Mainly for the diagnosis of IBD, the defnition of fecal calprotectin is used. Recently, there has been an interest in serum calprotectin, an increase in which is associated with a higher activity of the disease and is a marker of the intensity of inflammation in the intestine. However, there is currently no consensus on the clinical signifcance for serum calprotectin.The aim. To evaluate the role of serum calprotectin in diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease in patients with ankylosing spondylitis.Materials and methods. In the analysis were included 50 patients with AS, fulflling the modifed New York criteria, among them were 36 (72%) men and 14 (28%) women, the mean age of patients was 42.5 ± 9.9, mean disease duration was 13.4 ± 8.7 years. All patients were examined with ESR, CRP, FC (range: 100–1800 µg/g), esophagogastroduodenoscopy, colonoscopy and quantitative analysis of the SC level using ELISA (Buhlmann MRP8/14 ELISA, range: 0.4–3.9 µg/ml).Results. All patients had a high disease activity, mean BASDAI was 5.3 ± 1.8, mean ASDAS CRP was 3.7 ± 1.01, mean ASDAS ESR was 3.6 ± 1.01. 78% patients had high FC level (more than 100 µg/g), while only 18% patients had an increase of SC level. IBD were diagnosed in 11 cases: 6 (12%) patients with CD and 5 (10%) patients with UC, in the remaining cases (78%) was no intestinal pathology. Only two patients with IBD had a high SC level. SC level was more correlated with ESR (r = 0.5) and CRP (r = 0.5) (p < 0.05) levels, than with FC level (r = 0.4) (p < 0.05).Conclusion. The results have shown that there was currently insuffcient data to assess the possibility of using SC in the diagnosis of IBD in patients with AS. There was a signifcant association between the SC, CRP and ESR, but not fecal calprotectin. Potentially SC may be more representative for systemic inflammation than intestinal inflammation.

Importance of the second SARS-CoV-2 vaccination dose for achieving serological response in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and seronegative spondyloarthritis

ObjectivesTo assess the kinetics of humoral response after the first and second dose of messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines in patients with inflammatory joint diseases compared with healthy controls (HC). To analyse factors influencing the quantity of the immune response.MethodsWe enrolled patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and seronegative spondyloarthritis (SpA), excluding those receiving B-cell depleting therapies and assessed the humoral response to mRNA vaccines after the first and the second dose of the vaccine in terms of seroconversion rate and titre. We compared the results to a HC group and analysed the influence of therapies as well as other characteristics on the humoral response.ResultsSamples from 53 patients with RA, 46 patients with SpA and 169 healthy participants were analysed. Seroconversion rates after the first immunisation were only 54% in patients with inflammatory arthritis compared with 98% in the HC group. However, seroconversion rates were 100% in all groups after second immunisation. Patients developed reduced antibody titres after the first vaccination compared with HC, but there was no difference after the second dose. While disease modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD) monotherapy did not affect antibody levels, seroconversion rates as well as titre levels were reduced in patients receiving a combination of DMARDs compared with HC.ConclusionsPatients with inflammatory joint diseases under DMARD therapy show impaired humoral responses to the first vaccine dose but excellent final responses to vaccination with mRNA vaccines. Therefore, the full course of two immunisations is necessary for efficient vaccination responses in patients with inflammatory arthritis under DMARD therapy.

Arthritis as an initial presentation of malignancy: two case reports

Background Arthritis is rarely reported as a paraneoplastic manifestation of occult malignancy. We report herein two cases of paraneoplastic arthritis due to occult malignancy. Case 1 The patient was a 65-year-old woman of asian descent who was a former smoker with a history of spine surgery performed for L4/L5 degenerative disc disease. She presented with a 1-month history of oligoarthritis affecting both ankle joints and early morning stiffness of about 3 hours. Laboratory tests were positive for antinuclear antibody at a titer of 1:320 (speckled) but negative for rheumatoid factor. She was treated for seronegative spondyloarthritis and started on prednisolone without much improvement. A routine chest radiograph incidentally revealed a right lung mass which was found to be adenocarcinoma of the lung. She was treated with gefitinib and her arthritis resolved. Case 2 The patient was a 64-year-old woman of asian descent, nonsmoker, who presented with a chief complaint of asymmetrical polyarthritis involving her right wrist, second and third metacarpophalangeal joints, and first to fifth proximal interphalangeal joints. She was treated for seronegative rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and started on sulfasalazine, with poor clinical response. Six months later, she developed abdominal pain which was diagnosed as ovarian carcinoma by laparotomy. Her arthritis resolved following treatment of her malignancy with chemotherapy. Conclusion In summary, paraneoplastic arthritis usually presents in an atypical manner and responds poorly to disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs. Accordingly, we recommend screening for occult malignancy in patients presenting with atypical arthritis.

DIFFERENTIATED THERAPY OF REACTIVE ARTHRITIS

Reactive arthritis (Rea) belongs to the group of seronegative spondyloarthritis (Spa) and is often associated with the carrier of HLA-B27-antigen, which, together with the presence of a distant focus of infection,increases the risk of developing arthritis. The most common causes of reactive arthritis are latent urogenital infections and acute intestinal infections. diagnosis of Rhea is difficult due to the similarity of the clinical picture with other diseases of the musculoskeletal system that occur with joint damage, as well as, often, the absence of an obvious connection between the joint syndrome and pre-existing infection. If the diagnosis is correct, it is necessary to identify the pathogen and prescribe etiotropic therapy, but even in this case, recovery does not occur in 100% of cases. Approximately 20% of patients may have chronic disease, so it is necessary to first pay more attention to the detection of infections-triggers and treat them at an early stage.

Peripheral Seronegative Spondyloarthritis – Updates on Critical Criteria

In the past decade, new clinical and imaging criteria have vastly improved the diagnosis and outcome of patients with seronegative spondyloarthritis (SpA). It is estimated that up to 30% of patients with SpA may exhibit predominant (or only) peripheral manifestations of SpA. Lack of awareness can lead to a diagnostic delay of up to 8–9 years which can lead to significant patient morbidity. It is, therefore, essential to diagnose and treat SpA as early as possible. The aim of this pictorial review is to emphasize the important aspects of current peripheral SpA classification system and demonstrates the imaging findings related to peripheral SpA. Patients referred for imaging of peripheral joints can be from a wide referral source. Recognizing and reporting imaging features suggestive of peripheral SpA will allow appropriate and timely specialist referral with the aim of avoiding treatment delay.

Ocular manifestations of rheumatic diseases

Purpose Our aim was to summarize key aspects of the pathomechanism and the ocular involvements of rheumatic and systemic autoimmune diseases. Methods Apart from a paper in French (Morax V, Ann Oculist 109:368–370, 1893), all papers referred to in this article were published in English. All the materials were peer-reviewed full-text papers, letters, reviews, or book chapters obtained through a literature search of the PubMed database using the keywords ocular manifestations; pathogenesis; systemic inflammatory rheumatic diseases; rheumatoid arthritis; osteoarthritis; fibromyalgia; systemic lupus erythematosus; seronegative spondyloarthritis; ankylosing spondylitis; reactive arthritis; enteropathic arthritis; psoriatic arthritis; systemic sclerosis; polymyalgia rheumatica and covering all years available. Some statements articulated in this paper reflect the clinical experience of the authors in their tertiary-referral center. Results Ophthalmic disorders are categorized by anatomical subgroups in all rheumatic diseases. The most common ocular manifestations are diverse types of inflammations of different tissues and dry eye disease (DED). Conclusion The eye could be a responsive marker for the onset or aggravation of an immune reactivation in many rheumatic diseases, furthermore, ocular findings can antedate the diagnosis of the underlying rheumatic disease. By recognizing ocular manifestations of systemic rheumatic diseases it might be possible to avoid or at least delay many long term sequelae.