Behçet's disease (BD) is a complex disease with genetic and environmental risk factors implicated in its etiology; however, its pathophysiology is poorly understood. To decipher BD's genetic underpinnings, we combined gene expression profiling with pathway analysis and association studies. We compared the gene expression profiles in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of 15 patients and 14 matched controls using Affymetrix microarrays and found that the neuregulin signaling pathway was over-represented among the differentially expressed genes. The Epiregulin (EREG), Amphiregulin (AREG), and Neuregulin-1 (NRG1) genes of this pathway stand out as they are also among the top differentially expressed genes. Twelve haplotype tagging SNPs at the EREG-AREG locus and 15 SNPs in NRG1 found associated in at least one published BD genome-wide association study were tested for association with BD in a dataset of 976 Iranian patients and 839 controls. We found a novel association with BD for the rs6845297 SNP located downstream of EREG, and replicated three associations at NRG1 (rs4489285, rs383632, and rs1462891). Multifactor dimensionality reduction analysis indicated the existence of epistatic interactions between EREG and NRG1 variants. EREG-AREG and NRG1, which are members of the epidermal growth factor (EGF) family, seem to modulate BD susceptibility through main effects and gene-gene interactions. These association findings support a role for the EGF/ErbB signaling pathway in Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article

The case of a 13-year-old Caucasian girl with a 1-year history of a linear plaque on her thigh is reported. Histopathologic examination of the incisional biopsy tissue established the diagnosis of lupus erythematosus panniculitis. Six months later she developed the clinical and laboratory criteria for the diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). She was treated with azathioprine and oral prednisolone, with a favorable clinical outcome. Our case illustrates a child with linear lupus erythematosus profundus as an initial manifestation of SLE. To our knowledge, only eight other cases of linear lupus erythematosus profundus have been reported in the literature, five in children. In contrast to our patient, none of those cases progressed to SLE during the reported follow-up period. The authors report this case to illustrate an unusual superimposed segmental manifestation of an inflammatory polygenic disorder.

Biologic therapies seem effective and safe in patients with JIA. In addition, the retention rates for the first biologic agent are high throughout 4 years.

Fabry’s disease (FD) is a lysosomal storage disorder associated with an alpha-galactosidase A deficiency. The prevalence of FD among juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) patients with established diagnosis is unknown, but as musculoskeletal pain may be an important complaint at presentation, misdiagnosed cases are anticipated. With this study, we aim to calculate the frequency of FD-associated mutations in a cohort of JIA patients. Children with JIA from a national cohort were selected. Clinical and laboratorial information was recorded in the Portuguese rheumatic diseases register (). Molecular genetic testing to detect GLA gene mutations was performed. After the multiplex polymerase chain reactions technique for DNA amplification, direct sequencing of the complete sequence of GLA gene was completed. From a cohort of 292 patients with JIA (188 females, 104 males), mutations were identified in 5 patients (all female). Four patients had the mutation D313Y, a rare GLA variant, which is associated with low enzymatic levels in plasma, but normal lysosomal levels. One patient presented the missense mutation R118C, which was previously described in Mediterranean patients with FD. This is the first screening of FD mutations in a cohort of JIA patients. No “classic” pathogenic FD mutations were reported. The late-onset FD-associated mutation, R118C, was found in a frequency of 0.34% (1/292).

Ocular rosacea is frequently misdiagnosed, particularly in the pediatric population. To our knowledge, this report demonstrates a case with the longest history before diagnosis (7 years) and another case in which a conjunctival biopsy was performed.

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Objective. Our aims were to evaluate the correlation between Juvenile Arthritis Disease Activity Score 27-joint reduced count (JADAS27) with erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and JADAS27 with C-reactive protein (CRP) scores and to test the agreement of both scores on classifying each disease activity state. We also aimed at verifying the correlation of the 2 scores across juvenile idiopathic arthritis ( Conclusion. JADAS27 based on CRP level correlated closely with JADAS27-ESR across all disease activity states and JIA categories, indicating that both measures can be used in clinical practice. Moreover, the correlation of JADAS27 with and without ESR was also high, suggesting that this tool might be useful even in the absence of laboratorial measures.

A 12-month-old girl presented with an asymptomatic, pearly nodule on the left nipple that had been present from birth and was currently 3 mm in diameter and growing. Assuming the diagnosis of congenital primary milium of the nipple, we took a "wait and see" approach. After 3 months, the pearl disappeared without any scarring.