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To assess the association between the HLA-B*51 allele and Behçet Disease (BD) in Argentinean patients. We enrolled 34 consecutive Argentinean patients with definitive diagnosis of BD between October 2016 and March 2017. None of the patients had the HLA-B*51 allele determined at study entry. Unrelated controls (n = 240) were randomly obtained from the national cadaveric donor database. Demographic and clinical features of the patients were recorded by attending physicians through a questionnaire. Mean age of cases was 42 years old. Nineteen (55.8%) were male, and the mean age at diagnosis was 35 years old; twenty (58.8%) were Mestizos, 8 (23.5%) were Caucasian, and 6 (17.6%) were Amerindians. Thirteen (38.2%) of 34 cases were HLA-B*51 allele positive; 11 were heterozygous and 2 homozygous for the allele. Thirty-four (14.2%) of 240 controls were positive for the HLA-B*51 allele. The association between BD and HLA-B*51 allele was greater than that of control group (OR = 3.75; p = 0.0012). The HLA-B*51 allele is strongly associated with BD in Argentinean patients. Our finding is consistent with previous studies indicating that the HLA-B*51 allele is an important susceptibility gene in BD regardless the geographical region and ethnicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The general consensus is that for patients with EGPA with poor prognosis, intensive therapy with both GC and CF is indicated. The maintenance of remission is made with GC and AZA. A considerable number of patients with EGPA are refractory to first line therapy, experience dose-limiting side effects or relapse. In clinical trials, RTX was effective for the treatment of ANCA-associated vasculitis. However, patients with a diagnosis of EGPA were not included. Objective: to review and analyze the published literature regarding the use of RTX in the treatment of EGPA. Methods: The literature search was performed in MEDLINE and LILACS from 1965 and 1986 respectively until february 2014. Results: 27 patients were included. RTX treatment was due to refractory disease (n = 20), relapse (n = 5) and with newly diagnosed (n = 2). The affected organs were the lungs, peripheral nervous system, kidney and the eyes. Sixteen patients had clinical remission and 8 patients had clinical response. Conclusions: RTX was effective and well tolerated for the treatment of EGPA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the prevalence and associations with clinical manifestations of anti- P ribosomal antibodies in patients with juvenile-onset and adult-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods: Clinical and serological data of 30 patients with juvenile-onset SLE (age at onset younger than 16 years old) were compared with data of 92 patients with adult-onset SLE. Symptoms occurring during the entire disease course were considered. Anti- P ribosomal antibodies were tested by ELISA. Results: Anti- P ribosomal antibodies were found significantly more often in pediatric-onset SLE patients (26.7% vs. 6.5%; OR = 5.21 [CI95% = 1.6-16.5], p = 0.003). Alopecia (OR = 10.11, CI 95% = 1.25-97) and skin rash (non discoid) (OR = 4.1, CI 95% = 1.25-13.89) were significantly associated with anti- P ribosomal antibodies. Conclusion: Anti-ribosomal P antibodies are more often found in patients with juvenile SLE. Alopecia and skin rash were the only clinical manifestations associated to anti-ribosomal P antibodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]