Background: A complex interplay between genetic and environmental factors contributes to disease etiology of most of the autoimmune disorders. Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and celiac disease (CD) are polygenic autoimmune diseases that have high propensity to coexist due to shared etiological factors like genetics and clinico-pathological overlaps. Summary: The mean prevalence rate for coexistence of these diseases is 8%, and this value is a gross underestimation as reported from biopsy-proven symptomatic cases. The prevalence rate will rise when studies will excavate bottom layers of the “celiac iceberg” to detect potential and silent celiac cases. The concomitant presence of both these disorders is a complex situation immunologically as well as clinically. There is an accentuated breakdown of tolerance and proinflammatory cytokine storm that leads to the progression of organ-specific autoimmunity to systemic. No immunomodulating drugs are advocated as exogenous insulin supplementation and gluten exclusion are recommended for T1DM and CD respectively. Nevertheless, these pose certain challenges to both the clinicians and the patients, as gluten free diet (GFD) has been described to have an impact on glycemic control, bone health, and vascular complications. Also intermittent gluten intake by these patients due to non-compliance with GFD also stimulates the autoreactive immune cells that result in an augmented immune response. Key Messages: Large public health studies are needed to estimate the prevalence of all forms of CD in T1DM patients. Strict global guidelines need to be formulated for the disease management and prognosis, and there is also a need for an extensive research on each front to thoroughly understand the co-occurrence of these diseases.

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Background. Donor-derived cell-free DNA (dd-cfDNA) fraction and quantity have both been shown to be associated with allograft rejection. The present study compared the relative predictive power of each of these variables to the combination of the two, and developed an algorithm incorporating both variables to detect active rejection in renal allograft biopsies. Methods. The first 426 sequential indication biopsy samples collected from the Trifecta study ( ClinicalTrials.gov # NCT04239703) with microarray-derived gene expression and dd-cfDNA results were included. After exclusions to simulate intended clinical use, 367 samples were analyzed. Biopsies were assessed using the molecular microscope diagnostic system and histology (Banff 2019). Logistic regression analysis examined whether combining dd-cfDNA fraction and quantity adds predictive value to either alone. The first 149 sequential samples were used to develop a two-threshold algorithm and the next 218 to validate the algorithm. Results. In regression, the combination of dd-cfDNA fraction and quantity was found to be significantly more predictive than either variable alone ( P = 0.009 and P < 0.0001). In the test set, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the two-variable system was 0.88, and performance of the two-threshold algorithm showed a sensitivity of 83.1% and specificity of 81.0% for molecular diagnoses and a sensitivity of 73.5% and specificity of 80.8% for histology diagnoses. Conclusions. This prospective, biopsy-matched, multisite dd-cfDNA study in kidney transplant patients found that the combination of dd-cfDNA fraction and quantity was more powerful than either dd-cfDNA fraction or quantity alone and validated a novel two-threshold algorithm incorporating both variables.

Background: Autoimmune hepatitis is a polygenic disorder of unknown etiology, where genetic factors affect the occurrence and clinical phenotype of the disease. It has been reported as a rare disease entity in the Indian subcontinent. This study was undertaken to investigate the association of HLA alleles with autoimmune hepatitis type 1 and type 2 in north Indian population and to analyze if distinct human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles help in characterization of the subtypes of autoimmune hepatitis. Methods: Sixty-eight patients with autoimmune hepatitis and 128 healthy controls were recruited in the study. Out of 68 patients, 55 were diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis type 1 and 13 with autoimmune hepatitis type 2. The patients and the controls were typed for HLA class II alleles by PCR-SSP method. Results: HLA DRB1*04 and DRB1*08 were found to be significantly associated with autoimmune hepatitis type 1 in north Indian population. It was also observed that DRB1*04, DRB1*13 were significantly associated with pediatric autoimmune hepatitis type 1 and DRB1*08 was significantly associated with adult autoimmune hepatitis type 1. DRB1*14 was significantly associated with autoimmune hepatitis type 2. Conclusion: The study indicates that autoimmune hepatitis in north Indian population is associated with HLA alleles that may help to discriminate the subtypes as autoimmune hepatitis type 1 and type 2. The study also highlights the ethnic variations in the Indian subcontinent in context to the genetic association of HLA with autoimmune diseases. ( J CLIN EXP HEPATOL 2014;4:14-18)

Ectodermal dysplasia (ED) is a rare hereditary disorder involving two or more of the ectodermal structures, which include the skin, hair, nails, teeth, and sweat glands. The two most common forms of the disease are hypohidrotic/anhidrotic ED and hidrotic ED. They are caused by the mutations of several genes. We present a case of a 9-year-old child with hypohidrotic ED, who presented with hypodontia, dyshidrosis, hypotrichosis, and raised body temperature. We treated the raised body temperature symptomatically with cooling techniques and antipyretics. A multidisciplinary approach with physicians from several fields is required to provide comprehensive medical care to patients with ED.