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AimTo identify systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients diagnosed and treated at the outpatient clinic of our Division fulfilling at least four American College of Rheumatology (ACR) classification criteria at the time of the study, to determine the prevalence of each of the criteria at three different time points, and to compare the data with similar studies.MethodsWe performed retrospective and descriptive analysis of medical records of 162 patients fulfilling at least 4 ACR criteria. Classification criteria were counted and the frequency of each criterion was identified at three different time points: disease onset, time of diagnosis, and the time when the study was conducted.ResultsAt diagnosis and at the time when the study was conducted there were 3.8 and 5.4 fulfilled classification criteria, respectively. The most common criterion at the time of the disease onset was arthritis (52.6%); at the time of diagnosis it was positive antinuclear antibody (ANA) titer (88.0%); and at the time when the study was conducted it was positive ANA titer (95.7%), immunologic disorder (89.5%), arthritis (71.0%), hematologic disorder (70.4%), malar rash (61.7%), and photosensitivity (51.9%).ConclusionThe prevalence of ACR criteria in our patients is similar to that in other studies, especially those involving Caucasian patients. Our results confirm the value of the ACR criteria in patients with an already established diagnosis. This is the first study on the prevalence of disease manifestations among Croatian patients with SLE.

IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is a rather uncommon complication of TNF-alpha inhibition with a range of findings such as asymptomatic microscopic/macroscopic hematuria or different degrees of proteinuria and could progress to end-stage renal disease. We are reporting three patients with longstanding rheumatoid arthritis (RA), which developed IgAN while receiving TNF-alpha inhibitors. All off our three patients had RA, which lasted 2–4 years, and none of them had a prior history of chronic kidney disease. Two patients were treated with adalimumab while one patient was treated with golimumab. Discontinuation of anti-TNF-alpha therapy and initiation of immunosuppressive therapy led to improvement in serologic abnormalities and renal function in two patients, while the third patient’s 24-hour proteinuria was only partially reduced, which supports previous reports on TNF-alpha inhibitor induced autoimmunity. Two of our patients had previously been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus while the third patient developed diabetes years after the onset of IgAN. This is in line with the previously described association of IgAN and diabetes mellitus. To our best knowledge, this is the first report to analyze the development of IgAN as a potential consequence of anti-TNF-alpha therapy and its possible association with pretreatment or posttreatment diabetes.

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