Cervical human papillomavirus (HPV+) infection is associated with an increased risk of cervical dysplasia. Although the frequency of HPV+ in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has been investigated in some races its prevalence in Hispanic women is still unknown. This cross-sectional study evaluated the prevalence of cervical HPV+ in Mexican women with SLE (n = 34) or rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (n = 43) and in healthy controls (n = 146). These women were interviewed about risk factors for sexually transmitted infections and cervical cytology analysis was performed. HPV+ viral types were identified using PCR: HPV+ was observed in 14.7% of SLE, 27.9% of RA and 30.8% of controls. High-risk HPV types were observed in 11.7% of women with SLE, 27.9% of women with RA, and in 26% of the controls. High-risk viral types 58, 35 and 18 were the most frequently identified in SLE. Two women with SLE had a high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion and one had cervical cancer. An association was observed between methotrexate utilization, longer duration of therapy with prednisone, and HPV+ in RA or SLE. Thus, there is a high prevalence of cervical HPV infection in Mexican women with SLE or RA, and physicians must be vigilant in preventing the development of cervical dysplasia.

Objective. To evaluate whether serum titers of second-generation anticyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies (anti-CCP2) are associated with the severity and extent of interstitial lung disease in rheumatoid arthritis (RA-ILD). Methods. In across-sectional study, 39 RA-ILD patients confirmed by high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) were compared with 42 RA without lung involvement (RA only). Characteristics related to RA-ILD were assessed in all of the patients and serum anti-CCP2 titers quantified. Results. Higher anti-CCP2 titers were found in RA-ILD compared with RA only (medians 77.9 versus 30.2 U/mL, P < 0.001). In the logistic regression analysis after adjustment for age, disease duration (DD), smoke exposure, disease activity, functioning, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and methotrexate (MTX) treatment duration, the characteristics associated with RA-ILD were higher anti-CCP2 titers (P = 0.003) and + RF (P = 0.002). In multivariate linear regression, the variables associated with severity of ground-glass score were anti-CCP2 titers (P = 0.02) and with fibrosis score DD (P = 0.01), anti-CCP2 titers (P < 0.001), and MTX treatment duration (P < 0.001). Conclusions. Anti-CCP2 antibodies are markers of severity and extent of RA-ILD in HRCT. Further longitudinal studies are required to identify if higher anti-CCP2 titers are associated with worst prognosis in RA-ILD.