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Antibody-mediated rejection (AbMR) is one of the leading causes of graft loss in kidney transplantation and B cells play an important role in the development of it. A B-cell activating factor (BAFF) is a cytokine involved in B cell ontogeny. Here, we analyzed whether B cell maturation and the effect of B cell soluble factors, such as BAFF could be involved in AbMR. Serum BAFF levels and B and T cell subpopulations were analyzed 109 kidney transplant patients before transplantation and at 6 and 12 months after kidney transplantation. Pretransplant serum BAFF levels as well as memory B cell subpopulations were significantly higher in those patients who suffered clinical AbMR during the first 12 months after kidney transplantation. Similar results were observed in the prospective analysis of patients with subclinical antibody-mediated rejection detected in the surveillance biopsy performed at 12 months after kidney transplantation. A multivariate analysis confirmed the independent role of BAFF in the development of AbMR, irrespective of other classical variables. Pretransplant serum BAFF levels could be an important non-invasive biomarker for the prediction of the development of AbMR and posttransplant increased serum BAFF levels contribute to AbMR.

The association between unconventional antiphospholipid antibodies and pre-eclampsia in patients without thrombotic manifestations and its relationship with endothelial dysfunction after delivery has been studied poorly. We included 157 pregnant women, 122 of them having developed pre-eclampsia (56 non-severe and 66 severe). The determination of classical and unconventional, as well as pulse wave velocity and ankle-brachial index were performed at three months after delivery. The prevalence of unconventional antiphospholipid antibodies was 22.9% and 54.9% in patients included in control and pre-eclampsia groups, respectively (p = 0.001). The most frequent antiphospholipid antibody was IgM anti-phosphatidylserine/prothrombin in both cohorts. The presence of IgM anti-phosphatidylserine/prothrombin showed an association with the development of pre-eclampsia (OR = 5.4; CI 95% (2.0–14.9), p = 0.001) with an AUC of 0.744 (p < 0.001). Likewise, IgM anti-phosphatidylserine/prothrombin exhibited a positive linear correlation with pulse wave velocity values (rho = 0.830; p < 0.001) and an association with the presence of pulse wave velocity altered values (OR = 1.33; CI95% (1.10–1.59), p = 0.002). With regard to ankle braquial index values, the presence of IgM anti-phosphatidylserine/prothrombin displayed a weak negative correlation (rho = −0.466; p < 0.001) and an association with altered ankle braquial index values (OR = 1.08; CI 95% (1.04–1.13), p < 0.001). In patients who developed preeclampsia, the presence of IgM anti-phosphatidylserine/prothrombin could be associated with endothelial dysfunction, causing alteration of cardiovascular parameters.

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Background: Interstitial lung disease (ILD) associated with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) has a poor prognosis. Treatments such as anti-TNF, have been implicated in the exacerbation of an ILD. Objectives: Our objective is to evaluate and compare the evolution of ILD in patients with RA treated with Abatacept (ABA), Rituximab (RTX) and Tocilizumab (TCZ) after 1 year of treatment. Methods: Retrospective multicentre study of patients with ILD and AR treated with ABA, RTX and TCZ at standard doses. The ILD was diagnosed by CT. Conclusions: There seems to be a trend towards a better radiological response in patients treated with RTX and ABA. It would be necessary prospective studies. Background: Approximately a third of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) patients treated with tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-a inhibitors such as Infliximab (IFX) fail to respond. This has prompted a widespread interest in the finding of measures for predictors of response to TNFa inhibitors. Objectives: To search for serum autoantibodies that aid to identify RA patients most likely to benefit from IFX. Methods: We analysed serum of 170 biologic-naïve RA patients at baseline assigned to receive IFX plus methotrexate. The serum samples were distributed in 3 independent samples sets that were provided by 3 different sources: 1 discovery sample set (n=24) collected from Hospital Clínico Universitario of Santiago de Compostela (Spain) and 2 validation sample sets collected from Hospital Universitario de A Coruña (Spain), (n=61); and the Swedish Farmacotherapy (SWEFOT) trial (Sweden), (n=85). The European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) criteria were used to assess the clinical response at six months of follow-up: good response (GR, n=60), moderate (MR, n=60) and non-response (NR, n=50). A suspension bead array platform built on protein fragments within Human Protein Atlas and selected from an initial screening using an array containing 42 000 antigens was employed to identify the IgG and IgA autoantibodies in the discovery sample set and validate the results within the 2 validation sets. Thresholds for autoantibodies were calculated by Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) curve analysis performed with SPSS 24. Results: Our data revealed a more prevalent IgG reactivity and higher IgG autoantibody levels against the antigen Centromere Protein F (CENPF) in GR when compared with NR, showing an overall reactivity of 31% vs 0%, 45% vs. 26% and 17% vs 4% in the three sample sets analysed respectively. The area under the ROC curve was 0,649 [p-value=0.049; IC 95% (0.510-0.789)]. CENP-F is a proliferation-associated and cell cycle-dependent centromere autoantigen that might be involved in the increased or abnormal cell proliferation that occurs during RA process. Interestingly, our results also showed that IgA autoantibodies levels toward the antigen Solute Carrier family 39 member 2 (SLC39A2), a zinc transporter protein, were decreased in GR when compared with MR in the discovery sample set and this trend was significantly validated (p=0.018) in the SWEFOT c...

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