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Objectives: Crohn's disease (CD) and Behçet's disease (BD) are two autoinflammatory diseases that share clinical and pathogenic features. Furthermore, when BD involves the gastrointestinal tract, it is extremely difficult to distinguish endoscopic lesions from CD lesions. HLA-B*51 allele expression is highly associated with BD diagnosis. In this study we analysed HLA-B*51 status in 70 Argentine patients with confirmed CD diagnosis and compared it to our previous Argentine BD cohort, with the aim of finding similarities or differences between these two diseases regarding HLA-B*51 status., Methods: This is a multi-centre case-control study, including 70 patients with confirmed CD diagnosis, who underwent HLA-B*51 allele status testing; the results were compared to our previous BD cohort of 34 patients., Results: Among patients with CD, 12.85% were positive for the HLA-B*51 allele, compared with 38.24% patients with BD (OR=0.238; 95% CI=0.089-0.637; p=0.004)., Conclusions: Our finding suggests that determination of HLA-B*51 allele status may contribute to the differential diagnosis between CD and BD.

The aim of this study is to investigate the prevalence of subclinical ankle involvement by ultrasound in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The study was conducted on 216 patients with RA and 200 healthy sex- and age-matched controls. Patients with no history or clinical evidence of ankle involvement underwent US examination. For each ankle, tibio-talar (TT) joint, tibialis anterior (TA) tendon, extensor halux (EH) and extensor common (EC) tendons, tibialis posterior (TP) tendon, flexor common (FC) tendon and flexor hallux (FH) tendon, peroneous brevis (PB) and longus (PL) tendons, Achilles tendon (AT) and plantar fascia (PF) were assessed. The following abnormalities were recorded: synovitis, tenosynovitis, bursitis, enthesopathy and rupture. BMI, DAS28, RF ESR and CRP were also obtained. A total of 432 ankles of patients with RA and 400 ankles of healthy controls were assessed. In 188 (87%) patients with RA, US showed ankle abnormalities whereas, in control group, US found abnormalities in 57 (28.5 %) subjects (p = 0.01). The most frequent US abnormality in RA patients was TP tenosynovits (69/216) (31.9 %), followed by PL tenosynovitis (58/216) (26.9 %), TT synovitis (54/216) (25 %), PB tenosynovitis (51/216) (23.6 %), AT enthesopathy (41/216) (19 %) and AT bursitis (22/216) (10.2 %). In 118 RA patients out of 216 (54.6%), a positive PD was found. No statistically significant correlation was found between the US findings and age, disease duration, BMI, DAS28, RF, ESR and CRP. The present study provides evidence of the higher prevalence of subclinical ankle involvement in RA patients than in age- and gender-matched healthy controls identified by US.

Aim: A polymorphism in the tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) promoter region has been associated with disease susceptibility and progression in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The presence of an adenosine (TNF2 allele) instead of a guanine (TNF1 allele) at position -308 may be responsible for a general increase in the transcriptional activity of the TNF-α gene. Our aim was to evaluate the association of the TNF2 allele with the risk of disease development and/or progression of RA in an Argentine population cohort., Methods: Two hundred and twenty-three consecutive patients with RA according to the 1987 criteria of the American College of Rheumatology were included in the study. Clinical variables, Disease Activity Score 28, Health Assessment Questionnaire and Rheumatoid Arthritis Quality of Life were recorded. The radiographic erosions were determined by the method of Sharp/van der Heijde. A group of 111 healthy subjects matched by sex and age was used as a control. All samples were genotyped for the -308 G/A TNF-α polymorphism., Results: No significant differences were observed either in the frequency of the TNF2 allele or in the genotypic distributions of the -308 G/A TNF-α polymorphism (P > 0.05) between the control group and the RA patients. No association was found between the TNF2 allele and the variables related to the course and outcome of the disease (P > 0.05)., Conclusion: In this cohort of Argentinean patients with RA, the TNF2 allele was neither associated with susceptibility to the disease nor was it associated with the variables related to the course and outcome of the disease., (© 2014 Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology and Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.)

Our objective was to analyze the effects of cigarette smoking on disease activity, functional capacity, radiographic damage, serology and presence of extraarticular manifestations in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and undifferentiated arthritis. This is a cross-sectional study of 1,305 patients (729 with rheumatoid arthritis and 576 with undifferentiated arthritis) from CONAART, the Argentine Consortium for Early Arthritis that includes patients older than 16 years with <2 years of disease. Sociodemographic data, clinical characteristics of the disease and smoking history were collected. In patients with rheumatoid arthritis the disease activity score of 28 joints was 5.4 ± 1.3 in current smokers, 5.2 ± 1.4 in former smokers and 5.1 ± 1.4 in never smokers (p = 0.011). The simple erosion narrowing score was higher in current smokers and former smokers than in never smokers (M 14.0, R Q 6.0-21.0; M 15.0, R Q 7.0-24.0; M 10.0, R Q 5.0-17.0; p = 0.006). Current smokers had higher rheumatoid factor titer (M 160.0, R Q 80.0-341.0) than former smokers (M 146.8, R Q 6.03-255.5) and never smokers (M 15.0, R Q 9.0-80.0) (p = 0.004). The variable independently associated with tobacco exposure was simple erosion narrowing score (OR = 1.03, 95 % CI 1.00-1.05; p = 0.012). In patients with undifferentiated arthritis, an association between smoking status and parameters of activity or radiographic damage was not observed. Neither was tobacco exposure related to the presence of extraarticular manifestations or to the degree of disability in any of the two groups of patients. No relation was found between disease activity and severity, and number of packs smoked per year. Tobacco.

The most frequently reported symptoms by patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) are pain, stiffness, and fatigue. Previous studies have estimated a 63% prevalence of fatigue in AS, with a low correlation of fatigue with pain and functional capacity. The objective of this study is to assess fatigue prevalence in AS patients and establish the main associated factors. A case-control study including AS patients according to New York modified criteria was carried out. The control group included individuals of the general population without rheumatic conditions, matched by gender, age, and socioeconomic level. Disease-related variables were recorded. Functional capacity, disease activity, and quality of life were assessed using Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Funcional Index (BASFI), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), and ankylosing spondylitis quality of life (ASQoL). CES-D questionnaire was used to evaluate depression and fatigue severity scale (FSS) to evaluate fatigue. Sixty-four consecutive AS patients and 95 controls were included. Patients' median age was 44 years (interquartile range (IQR), 33.25-53), 89.1% were male, and had a median disease duration of 17 years (IQR, 10.3-25). Fatigue prevalence in AS was 73.4% compared to 30.5% in the control group (p < 0.001; OR, 2.08 (95% CI, 1.53-2.83)). Furthermore, fatigue in AS correlated with ASQoL (r = 0.65), BASFI (r = 0.52), BASDAI (r = 0.52), and depression (r = 0.51), whereas no correlation with age or disease duration was found. In the linear regression analysis using fatigue as the dependent variable, depression was the only associated variable (p = 0.01). No association with age, gender, disease duration, BASDAI, BASFI, or presence of comorbidities was found. Finally, BASDAI fatigue question correlated with the FSS (r = 0.55). Fatigue was significantly more prevalent in AS than in healthy controls. The main determinant factor of fatigue was the presence of depression, explaining 30% of its variability. Recognizing these factors could have important therapeutic implications.

We investigated the relationship between the 4G/5G plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1) and -308 A/G tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) polymorphisms and the clinical and biochemical features of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in an Argentinean patient cohort. A total of 402 patients were studied, including 179 SLE patients and 223 healthy individuals. PCR-RLFP was used to determine the genotypes of the 4G/5G PAI-1 and -308 A/G TNF-α polymorphisms. SLE patients with lupus nephritis (LN) (n = 86) were compared with patients without LN (n = 93). Additionally, LN patients were divided into proliferative LN and non-proliferative LN groups according to the results of the renal biopsies. No significant differences were noted in the genotype distributions or allele frequencies of these TNF-α and PAI-1 polymorphisms between SLE patients and controls. There were higher numbers of criteria for SLE, more lupus flares and higher damage scores in LN patients, but there were similar frequencies of anti-phospholipid antibody (APA) positivity and anti-phospholipid syndrome. No significant difference was noted for any studied variable between the proliferative LN and non-proliferative LN groups except for the presence of APA. We found no significant differences in the TNF-α and PAI-1 genotype distributions or allele frequencies between groups. We found that the -308 A/G TNF-α and 4G/5G PAI-1 polymorphisms are not associated with susceptibility to SLE in an Argentinean population. We also did not find any association between the presence of any specific allele or genotype and the development of LN in SLE patients. Finally, no association was noted between either of the two polymorphisms and the severity of renal disease.

The Rheumatoid Arthritis Quality of Life (RAQoL) questionnaire is the first needs-based instrument specifically designed to measure quality of life (QoL) of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The aims of our study were to develop an Argentinean version of the RAQoL and to determine its reproducibility, validity, and sensitivity to change in patients with RA. Translation process was performed according to internationally accepted methodology. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were calculated. Criterion and construct validity were assessed by comparing the RAQoL with parameters of disease activity, the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ), and the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item health survey (SF-36) questionnaire. Sensitivity to change was measured at 6-12 months using standardized response mean (SRM). The minimal important change was defined as a change of 1 or 1.96 times the standard error of measurement. A total of 97 patients with RA were included. Cronbach's α was 0.93, and test-retest reliability was 0.95. The RAQoL showed moderate to strong correlation with parameters of disease activity, the HAQ, and the SF-36. Functional status was the main determinant of patients' level of QoL. The SRM of the RAQoL was 0.24. Agreement between 20 % improvement in RAQoL and ACR20 response was moderate. Minimal important change was 2.2 (1 SEM) or 4.3 (1.96 SEM). The Argentinean version of the RAQoL is the first Spanish translation of this questionnaire. Our findings show it to be valid, reliable, and sensitive to changes in RA clinical status.

Objective: The aim of the present study is to describe the general characteristics of a cohort of patients with early arthritis in Argentina., Methods: CONAART (Consorcio Argentino de Artritis Temprana--Argentine Consortium for Early Arthritis) is an initiative of seven rheumatology centres across Argentina. Patients were included if they had at least one or more swollen joints and <2 years of disease duration. Social, demographic, familiar, hereditary, clinical and laboratory data were recollected. At first visit and every year, X-rays of hands and feet were performed and working characteristics and pharmaco-economic data were re-collected., Results: A total of 413 patients were included. Of them, 327 (79.2%) were women with a median age of 49 years and a median disease duration of 6 months. Of the total, 183 (44.3%) had RA (ACR 1987) and 167 (40.4%) undifferentiated arthritis (UA). Other diagnoses included: 12 crystalics, 11 PsA, 6 uSpA, 6 other CTD, 1 AS and 27 other diagnosis. As 85% of our population had RA and UA, we only compared these two groups of patients. Patients with RA had significantly worse activity parameters of the disease (DAS of 28 joints), functional capacity (HAQ) and quality of life (Rheumatoid Arthritis Quality of Life) than patients with UA. The frequency of RF and anti-CCP, and symmetrical distribution were also significantly higher in patients with RA compared with UA patients. All patients with RA initiated early specific treatment, in a period no longer than 6 months from the beginning of the disease., Conclusion: Early arthritis clinics are a useful tool to identify and treat patients with different forms of joint involvement.