Cause of death and risk factors for mortality in AA amyloidosis: A French retrospective study

Amyloidosis in Human Inborn Errors of Immunity Predicts Poor Prognosis

PURPOSE

Chronic inflammation in inborn errors of immunity(IEI) caused by the infections or immune dysregulation is associated with the amyloid A (AA) amyloidosis development. This study aims to analyze the clinical characteristics, management strategies, and outcomes of patients with IEI complicated by AA amyloidosis, focusing on demographics, disease manifestations, treatment modalities, and survival rates.

METHODS

Thirteen patients diagnosed with IEI and AA amyloidosis, along with an additional 10 patients previously reported from Türkiye, were reviewed retrospectively.

RESULTS

The median ages at diagnosis of IEI and amyloidosis were 20 years (2-61) and 25 years (7-70), respectively. Renal (74%) and gastrointestinal involvement (44%) were the most common, followed by skin(9%), pulmonary (9%), and cardiac involvement (9%). Primary antibody deficiencies(48%), combined immunodeficiencies(31%), hyperimmunoglobulin E syndrome(9%), congenital neutropenia (4%), autoinflammatory disorders (4%), and chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis (4%) were the IEI types associated with amyloidosis. Bronchiectasis (74%) and malignancy (17%) were observed in given ratio of patients. Treatment modalities for amyloidosis include colchicine (n = 12, 52%), steroids (n = 5, 22%) and tocilizumab (n = 2, 9%) without significant benefit. Thirteen patients (57%) died with a median age of 24 years (8-45), predominantly due to sepsis (52%). Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) gene analysis was negative in all patients except for one, who had a heterozygous MEFV gene defect (M694V).

CONCLUSION

AA amyloidosis in IEI is associated with severe morbidity and mortality. Early diagnosis and management of IEI are crucial to prevent amyloidosis development. However, colchicine appears ineffective once amyloidosis has occurred, highlighting the need for further research into early diagnostic biomarkers and novel treatment options.

French practical guidelines for the diagnosis and management of AA amyloidosis

AA amyloidosis is secondary to the deposit of excess insoluble Serum Amyloid A (SAA) protein fibrils. AA amyloidosis complicates chronic inflammatory diseases, especially chronic inflammatory rheumatisms such as rheumatoid arthritis and spondyloarthritis; chronic infections such as tuberculosis, bronchectasia, chronic inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's disease; and auto-inflammatory diseases including familial Mediterranean fever. This work consists of the French guidelines for the diagnosis workup and treatment of AA amyloidosis. We estimate in France between 500 and 700 cases in the whole French population, affecting both men and women. The most frequent organ impaired is kidney which usually manifests by oedemas of the lower extremities, proteinuria, and/or renal failure. Patients are usually tired and can display digestive features anf thyroid goiter. The diagnosis of AA amyloidosis is based on detection of amyloid deposits on a biopsy using Congo Red staining with a characteristic green birefringence in polarized light. Immunohistochemical analysis with an antibody directed against Serum Amyloid A protein is essential to confirm the diagnosis of AA amyloidosis. Peripheral inflammatory biomarkers can be measured such as C Reactive protein and SAA. We propose an algorithm to guide the etiological diagnosis of AA amyloidosis. The treatement relies on the etiologic treatment of the undelying chronic inflammatory disease to decrease and/or normalize Serum Amyloid A protein concentration in order to stabilize amyloidosis. In case of renal failure, dialysis or even a kidney transplant can be porposed. Nowadays, there is currently no specific treatment for AA amyloidosis deposits which constitutes a therapeutic challenge for the future.

Circulating biomarkers in diagnosis and management of cardiac amyloidosis: a review for internist

Cardiac amyloidosis (CA) is due to extracellular myocardial deposition of misfolded proteins resulting in severe cardiac dysfunction and death. The precursors of amyloid fibrils, able of determining a relevant cardiac infiltration, are immunoglobulin-free light chains (AL amyloidosis) and transthyretin (TTR) (both wild and mutated types). The diagnosis of amyloidosis represents a challenge for the clinician given its rarity and its protean clinical presentation, thus an early diagnosis remains a cornerstone for the prognosis of these patients, also in light of the growing available treatments. There is great interest in identifying and applying biomarkers to help diagnose, inform prognosis, guide therapy, and serve as surrogate endpoints in these patients. In AL amyloidosis, biomarkers such as free light chains, natriuretic peptides and troponins are the most extensively studied and validated; they have proved useful in risk stratification, guiding treatment choice and monitoring hematological and organ response. A similar biomarker-based prognostic score is also proposed for ATTR amyloidosis, although studies are small and need to be validated for wild-type and mutant forms.

COVID-19 outcomes in patients with familial Mediterranean fever: a retrospective cohort study

Aim of this study is to investigate the course of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), in our cohort of familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) patients in means of mortality, admission to hospital and/or intensive care unit and length of hospital stay.A retrospective cohort was formed from patients who have previously been followed with a diagnosis of FMF. Patients of this cohort were retrospectively evaluated for a positive severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV 2) polymerized chain reaction (PCR) test result and information regarding hospitalisation, intensive care unit admission and mortality were collected from medical records.Out of a total 496 FMF patients, 34 were detected to have a positive SARS-CoV 2 PCR test. Eighty-five point three percent of these patients were under colchicine treatment and 17.6% were under interleukin (IL)—1 inhibitor treatment. Eight of the 34 patients (23.9%) were found to be hospitalized, one of them was admitted to the intensive care unit and died thereafter (2.9%). An increasing trend in the frequency of comorbid diseases (presence of at least one comorbidity 64.7% in all patients vs 75.0% in hospitalized patients) and IL-1 inhibitor usage (17.6% in all patients vs 50.0% in hospitalized patients) was observed in hospitalized patients.Rates of comorbid diseases and IL-1 inhibitor use for FMF were observed to be increased in FMF patients hospitalized for COVID-19.