Spondyloarthropathies in Autoimmune Diseases and Vice Versa

Abstract

Polyautoimmunity is one of the major clinical characteristics of autoimmune diseases (ADs). The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of ADs in spondyloarthropathies (SpAs) and vice versa. This was a two-phase cross-sectional study. First, we examined the presence of ADs in a cohort of patients with SpAs (N = 148). Second, we searched for the presence of SpAs in a well-defined group of patients with ADs (N = 1077) including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and Sjögren's syndrome (SS). Among patients with SpAs, ankylosing spondylitis was observed in the majority of them (55.6%). There were two patients presenting with SS in the SpA group (1.4%) and 5 patients with autoimmune thyroiditis (3.5%). The global prevalence of ADs in SpAs was 4.86%. In the ADs group, there were 5 patients with SpAs (0.46%). Our results suggest a lack of association between SpAs and ADs. Accordingly, SpAs might correspond more to autoinflammatory diseases rather than to ADs.

How do autoimmune diseases cluster in families? A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Note: Although AS is considered an auto-inflammatory more than autoimmune disease [76] we show the results obtained.…”

“…Figure 3 and Table 1 summarize the search results. Although ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is considered an auto-inflammatory more than autoimmune disease [76], it was included in the results since it was found to aggregate in families. Most of the studies found lacked controls and had a small sample size, which is reflected in low grading according to the 2011 levels of evidence from the Oxford Centre for Evidence-based Medicine [28].…”

“…AA, alopecia areata; AdD, Addison's disease; AS, ankylosing spondylitis; AITD, autoimmune thyroid disease; CD, celiac disease; CrD, Crohn's disease; FDR, first degree relative; IBD, inflammatory bowel disease; IIM, idiopathic inflammatory myositis; JDM, juvenile dermatomyositis; JRA, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis; JSLE, juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus; MAS, multiple autoimmune syndrome; MG, myasthenia gravis; MS, multiple sclerosis; PA, pernicious anemia; PAN, polyarteritis nodosa; PBC, primary biliary cirrhosis; PSO, psoriasis; RA, rheumatoid arthritis; SLE, systemic lupus erythematosus; SS, Sjögren's syndrome; SSc, systemic sclerosis; T1D, type 1 diabetes; UC, ulcerative colitis; VIT, vitiligo; WG, Wegener's granulomatosis. Note: Although AS is considered an auto inflammatory more than autoimmune disease [76] we show the results obtained.…”

Rat Model for Poly-Autoimmunity

“…When the topic is poly-autoimmunity or multiple autoimmune syndrome, i.e., co-existence of more than two autoimmune diseases, than genetic analysis of the affected families helps to assess the risk (Ribbhammar et al, 2003;Criswell et al, 2005;Perez-Fernandez et al, 2012). On the other hand, models that reproduce autoimmune conditions (or phases of these conditions) are needed for experimental research.…”

Homozygosity Analysis in Autoimmunity Affected Individuals and Multiplex Autoimmune Disease Families

“…The first comes from clinical observations indicating the possible shift from one disease to another or to the fact that more than one AD may coexist in a single patient (i.e., polyA, MAS) [24,[36][37][38][39] in the same family (i.e., familial autoimmunity) [40]. The second level of evidence refers to known shared pathophysiological mechanisms between ADs [41]; and the third level of evidence corresponds to the evidence implying common genetic factors [38].…”