5. Saulyte J, Regueira C, Montes-Martinez A, Khudyakov P, Takkouche B. Active or passive exposure to tobacco smoking and allergic rhinitis, allergic dermatitis, and food allergy in adults and children: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS Med 2014;11:e1001611. 6. Ohmen JD, Hanifin JM, Nickoloff BJ, Rea TH, Wyzykowski R, Kim J, et al. Overexpression of IL-10 in atopic dermatitis: contrasting cytokine patterns with delayed-type hypersensitivity reactions. J Immunol 1995;154: 1956-63. 7. Ricci G, Patrizi A, Federica B, Calamelli E, Dell'Omo V, Bendani B, et al. Cytokines levels in children affected by atopic and nonatopic eczema. Open Dermatol J 2008;2:18-21. 8. Howell MD, Novak N, Bieber T, Pastore S, Girolomoni G, Boguniewicz M, et al. Interleukin-10 downregulates anti-microbial peptide expression in atopic dermatitis. J Invest Dermatol 2005;125:738-45. 9. Ji S, Shin JE, Kim YS, Oh JE, Min BM, Choi Y. Toll-like receptor 2 and NALP2 mediate induction of human beta-defensins by fusobacterium nucleatum in gingival epithelial cells.

ObjectiveAlthough Behçet's disease (BD) is a chronic inflammatory disorder of uncertain aetiology, the existence of familial BD with autosomal-dominant traits suggests that a responsibility gene (or genes) exists. We investigated a Japanese family with a history of BD to search for pathogenic mutations underlying the biological mechanisms of BD.Methods6 patients over 4 generations who had suffered from frequent oral ulcers, genital ulcers and erythaema nodosum-like lesions in the skin were assessed. Whole-exome sequencing was performed on genomic DNA, and cytokine production was determined from stimulated mononuclear cells. Inflammatory cytokine secretion and Nod2-mediated NF-κB activation were analysed using the transfected cells.ResultsBy whole-exome sequencing, we identified a common heterozygous missense mutation in A20/TNFAIP3, a gene known to regulate NF-κB signalling, for which all affected family members carried a heterozygous C243Y mutation in the ovarian tumour domain. Mononuclear cells obtained from the proband and his mother produced large amounts of interleukin 1β, IL-6 and tumour necrosis factor α (TNF-a) on stimulation as compared with those from normal controls. Although inflammatory cytokine secretion was suppressed by wild-type transfected cells, it was suppressed to a much lesser extent by mutated C243Y A20/TNFAIP3-transfected cells. In addition, impaired suppression of Nod2-mediated NF-κB activation by C243Y A20/TNFAIP3 was observed.ConclusionsA C243Y mutation in A20/TNFAIP3 was likely responsible for increased production of human inflammatory cytokines by reduced suppression of NF-κB activation, and may have accounted for the autosomal-dominant Mendelian mode of BD transmission in this family.

Aim:The syndrome of periodic fever, aphthous stomatitis, pharyngitis, and cervical adenitis (PFAPA) is a common inflammatory disease that presents with periodic fever.We aimed to establish more specific diagnostic criteria for PFAPA based on the clinical characteristics of PFAPA patients in our directory. Method:The clinical, laboratory, genetic, and family history details of 257 Japanese PFAPA patients treated at our and other affiliated hospitals between April 2000 and April 2018 were analyzed along with quantitative measurements of the number of CD64 molecules on neutrophils, and the levels of serum inflammatory cytokines. The sensitivity and specificity of the criteria were calculated for several diseases.Results: Because recurrent fevers were crucial findings, they were defined as the required criterion. Tonsillitis/pharyngitis with white moss were important accompanying signs. Other symptoms associated with febrile episodes were cervical lymphadenitis with tenderness, aphthous stomatitis, sore throat, vomiting, and headache but not cough. A total of 159 (62%) patients had a family history of recurrent fevers, indicating autosomal dominant inheritance. C-reactive protein levels were extremely elevated during febrile attacks but normal in attack-free periods. Serum immunoglobulin D levels were high in 72 of the 199 tested patients. Oral glucocorticoid and cimetidine were extremely effective in all and 51.6% of the patients, respectively. We defined the above as supportive criteria. These criteria were sensitive and specific enough to distinguish PFAPA from other recurrent fever diseases. Raised serum interferon-γ levels and remarkable CD64 expression on neutrophils during flare-ups were recognized, indicating they contributed to diagnosis. Conclusion:Our new criteria are useful for diagnosing PFAPA. K E Y W O R D S cytokine, diagnostic criteria, periodic fever, PFAPA, tonsillitis How to cite this article: Takeuchi Y, Shigemura T, Kobayashi N, et al. Clinical features and new diagnostic criteria for the syndrome of periodic fever, aphthous stomatitis, pharyngitis, and cervical adenitis. Int J Rheum Dis.

Immunodeficiency, centromeric instability and facial anomalies (ICF) syndrome is a rare autosomal recessive disorder that shows DNA hypomethylation at pericentromeric satellite-2 and -3 repeats in chromosomes 1, 9 and 16. ICF syndrome is classified into two groups: type 1 (ICF1) patients have mutations in the DNMT3B gene and about half of type 2 (ICF2) patients have mutations in the ZBTB24 gene. Besides satellite-2 and -3 repeats, α-satellite repeats are also hypomethylated in ICF2. In this study, we report three novel ZBTB24 mutations in ICF2. A Japanese patient was homozygous for a missense mutation (C383Y), and a Cape Verdean patient was compound heterozygous for a nonsense mutation (K263X) and a frame-shift mutation (C327W fsX54). In addition, the second Japanese patient was homozygous for a previously reported nonsense mutation (R320X). The C383Y mutation abolished a C2H2 motif in one of the eight zinc-finger domains, and the other three mutations caused a complete or large loss of the zinc-finger domains. Our immunofluorescence analysis revealed that mouse Zbtb24 proteins possessing a mutation corresponding to either C383Y or R320X are mislocalized from pericentrometic heterochromatin, suggesting the importance of the zinc-finger domains in proper intranuclear localization of this protein. We further revealed that the proper localization of wild-type Zbtb24 protein does not require DNA methylation.

Muckle-Wells syndrome (MWS) is a dominantly inherited autoinflammatory syndrome. Patients withMWS have a mutation in CIAS1, the gene encoding cryopyrin, a component of the inflammasome that regulates the processing of interleukin-1␤ (IL-1␤). In this report we describe an 8-year-old Japanese girl with MWS who had symptoms of periodic fever, urticarial rash, conjunctivitis, arthropathy, and sensory deafness. Laboratory analysis of the patient's serum showed abnormally high concentrations of C-reactive protein, serum amyloid A, and IL-1␤, and she had a heterozygous mutation in the CIAS1 gene, with C-to-T transversion at nucleotide position 778, encoding an arginineto-tryptophan mutation at position 260 (R260W). Mononuclear cells (MNCs) isolated from the patient secreted large amounts of IL-1␤, without stimulation, and were highly sensitive to muramyldipeptide and lipopolysaccharide. After treatment with anakinra, laboratory results normalized, and clinical symptoms, including sensory deafness, disappeared, while MNCs appeared to remain activated. Thus, our case suggests that anakinra possibly affects the cryopyrin inflammasome and markedly improves the clinical and laboratory manifestations of MWS.

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Periodic fever, aphthous stomatitis, pharyngitis, and cervical adenitis (PFAPA) syndrome is the most commonly encountered autoinflammatory disease in children, but its pathogenesis and diagnostic biomarkers are unknown. In this study, we examined the utility of CD64, a member of the Fcγ receptors, expressions on neutrophils and monocytes in diagnosing patients with PFAPA, along with other autoinflammatory diseases exhibiting periodic fever, and bacterial infections. Although CD64 was expressed at a similar level in the attack-free period of PFAPA and in controls, CD64 expressions on both neutrophils and monocytes were dramatically increased during attacks. Serum IFN-γ also increased in some PFAPA patients during flares, suggesting the involvement of T cell activation. Our findings demonstrate that remarkable CD64 expression during PFAPA flares serves as a potential biomarker for the diagnosis. We also suspect that IFN-γ, possibly from retention of activated T cells in peripheral tissues, increases CD64 synthesis in such cases.

Summary We established mutated and non‐mutated induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) clones from a patient with PTPN11 (c.226G>A)‐mutated juvenile myelomonocytic leukaemia (JMML). Both types of iPSCs fulfilled the quality criteria. Mutated iPSC colonies generated significantly more CD34+ and CD34+CD45+ cells compared to non‐mutated iPSC colonies in a culture coated with irradiated AGM‐S3 cells to which four growth factors were added sequentially or simultaneously. The haematopoietic differentiation potential of non‐mutated JMML iPSC colonies was similar to or lower than that of iPSC colonies from a healthy individual. The PTPN11 mutation coexisted with the OSBP2 c.389C>T mutation. Zinc‐finger nuclease‐mediated homologous recombination revealed that correction of PTPN11 mutation in iPSCs with PTPN11 and OSBP2 mutations resulted in reduced CD34+ cell generation to a level similar to that obtained with JMML iPSC colonies with the wild‐type of both genes, and interestingly, to that obtained with normal iPSC colonies. Transduction of the PTPN11 mutation into JMML iPSCs with the wild‐type of both genes increased CD34+ cell production to a level comparable to that obtained with JMML iPSC colonies harbouring the two genetic mutations. Thus, PTPN11 mutation may be the most essential abnormality to confer an aberrant haematopoietic differentiation potential in this disorder.