Latent autoimmune thyroid disease

Prevalence of markers of beta cell autoimmunity and thyroid disease in children with coeliac disease

BACKGROUND

Over the last decades, the prevalence of coeliac disease (CD), an autoimmune disorder, rose to 1-2%. Whether patients with CD have higher risk of developing other autoimmune disorders such as type 1 diabetes, Hashimoto thyroiditis, or Graves` disease remains unclear.

AIM

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of biomarkers of beta cell and thyroid autoimmunity in children with CD.

METHODS

Retrospective cross-sectional cohort study comparing pediatric patients suffering from CD with age and sex-matched healthy controls (HC). Participant`s serum was tested by immunoassay for following autoantibodies (aAb): TSH-receptor antibodies (TRAb), anti-thyroglobulin (anti-Tg), anti-thyroid peroxidase (anti-TPO), anti-glutamic acid decarboxylase (anti-GAD), anti-zinc transporter 8 (anti-ZnT8), anti-islet antigen 2 (anti-IA2) and anti-insulin.

RESULTS

A total of 95 patients with CD (mean age 8.9 years; 63% female) and 199 matched healthy controls (mean age 9.2 years; 59.8% female) were included in the study. For patients with CD, a seroprevalence of 2.1% (vs. 1.5% in HC) was calculated for anti-GAD, 1.1% for anti-IA2 (vs. 1.5% in HC), 3.2% for anti-ZnT8 (vs. 4.2% in HC), and 1.1% (vs. 1% in HC) for anti-insulin. For thyroid disease, a seroprevalence of 2.2% for TRAb (vs. 1% in HC), 0% for anti-TPO (vs. 2.5% in HC) and 4.3% for anti-Tg (vs. 3.5% in HC) was found for patients with CD.

CONCLUSION

This study suggests a higher prevalence of autoimmune antibodies againstthyroid in children with CD compared to HC, whilst it is similar for pancreatic antibodies. Prospective cohort studies are needed to first evaluate the occurrence of autoimmune antibodies against beta cells and thyroid over a longer follow-up time and second to explore their clinical relevance.

Thyroid hormones and minerals in immunocorrection of disorders in autoimmune thyroid diseases

Thyroid hormones and essential elements iodine (I), selenium (Se), iron (Fe), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), etc. play an important role in the work of many organs and systems of the body, including the immune system and the thyroid gland, and a violation of their supply can be the cause of pathological changes in them. In pathology, the interaction between thyroid hormones (TG), minerals and the immune system is disturbed. The review of the literature examines the immunomodulatory role of TG, minerals, their properties, and their participation in the pathogenesis of autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITD). The study of the relationship between the excess or deficiency of minerals and AITD is described. The basis of the development of AITD - Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT), Graves' disease (GD), Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO) is the loss of immune tolerance to thyroid antigens - thyroid peroxidase (TPO), thyroglobulin (Tg) and thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor (TSH-R). Immune-mediated mechanisms - production of autoantibodies to thyroid antigens and lymphocytic thyroid infiltration - are involved in the pathogenesis of AITD. Insufficiency of regulatory T cells (Treg) and regulatory B cells (Breg), imbalance between Th17-lymphocytes and Treg-lymphocytes, abnormal production of pro-inflammatory cytokines has a significant influence on the progression of AITD. With AITD, the balance between oxidants and antioxidants is disturbed and oxidative stress (OS) occurs. The lack of modern effective pharmacological therapy of AITD prompted us to consider the mechanisms of influence, possibilities of immunocorrection of pathogenetic factors using TG, micro/macronutrients. In order to develop a more effective treatment strategy, as well as approaches to prevention, a critical analysis of the ways of immunotherapeutic use of dietary supplements of I, Se, Zn, Mg and other minerals in AITD was carried out.

Magnetic resonance T1-mapping quantitatively assesses the severity of thyroid destruction in patients with autoimmune thyroiditis

OBJECTIVE

Autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT) is a common organ-specific autoimmune disease. Longitudinal relaxation time mapping (T1-mapping) analyzed by magnetic resonance imaging is a new method for evaluating inflammation or fibrosis. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between thyroid T1-mapping value and degree of intrathyroidal inflammation and destruction in euthyroid AIT patients.

METHODS

This case-control study recruited 28 drug-naïve AIT patients and 18 healthy controls. Thyroid specimens were collected for assessing the mRNA expression of inflammatory factors and histopathologic examination. T1-mapping values were measured using a modified look-locker inversion-recovery sequence in all participants.

RESULTS

The positive rate of pathological diagnosed AIT was only 83.3% in the AIT group diagnosed by positive TPOAb and/or TgAb and typical ultrasonic manifestations, while 7.1% of the control group was diagnosed as AIT by pathological manifestations. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis revealed a very high diagnostic value of thyroid T1-mapping values for pathological diagnosed AIT (area under the curve was 0.950, 95%CI: 0.843 - 0.993, P < 0.001). In the patients with pathological diagnosed AIT, thyroid T1-mapping values were significantly associated with the mRNA expression of INF-γ (r = 0.343, P < 0.05), TNF-α (r = 0.352, P < 0.01), and IL-1β (r = 0.673, P < 0.01) in thyroid tissues. Moreover, histopathologic examination showed that thyroid T1-mapping values can properly reflect the degree of thyroid destruction in AIT patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Thyroid T1-mapping values had a very high diagnostic value for AIT. In euthyroid AIT patients, thyroid T1-mapping values better reflect degree of intrathyroidal inflammation and destruction.

Necrotizing Anterior Scleritis in a Woman with Terrien’s Marginal Degeneration: A Case Report

Purpose:

The aim of the study was to report the first case of a patient with Terrien’s Marginal Degeneration (TMD) who developed necrotizing anterior scleritis without systemic disease association, requiring systemic immunosuppressive treatment.

Case Report:

A 32-year-old female consulted for bilateral ocular burning and hyperemia. Initially, she was diagnosed with conjunctivitis and treated with topical antibiotics and corticosteroids, with mild transitory improvement but the progression of the disease. Years later, she attended the ocular immunology consultation for a second opinion where TMD with ocular inflammatory component OU was diagnosed. Seven months later, she presented with severe pain, decreased visual acuity, and photophobia in OS. At the slit-lamp examination, necrotizing anterior scleritis with a high risk of perforation in OS was observed. The patient was referred to the rheumatologist and started treatment with systemic corticosteroids and cyclophosphamide, exhibiting a clinical improvement. The patient did not meet the criteria for any systemic illness associated with scleritis, such as autoimmune diseases or vasculitis. Thus, scleritis was related to the adjacent inflammatory process associated with TMD, as an atypical presentation of this disease.

Conclusion:

Although an inflammatory type of TMD has been proposed, it is essential to follow up closely these patients and consider necrotizing anterior scleritis, a severe ocular disease that requires prompt immunosuppressive management, as a possible atypical associated presentation of this disease.

New insights into the taxonomy of autoimmune diseases based on polyautoimmunity

OBJECTIVE

The clinical coexistence of two or more autoimmune diseases (ADs) fulfilling classification criteria is termed "overt polyautoimmunity" (PolyA), whereas the presence of autoantibodies unrelated to an index AD, without clinical criteria fulfillment, is known as "latent PolyA". We aimed to explore a new taxonomy of ADs based on PolyA.

METHODS

In a cross-sectional study of 292 subjects, we evaluated the presence of PolyA in 146, 45, 29, 17, and 17 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), Sjögren's syndrome (SS), autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD) and systemic sclerosis (SSc), respectively, and 38 healthy controls. Clinical assessment, autoantibody profile (by autoantigen array chip), lymphocytes immunophenotype and cytokine profile (by flow cytometry) were evaluated simultaneously. A mixed cluster methodology was used to classify ADs.

RESULTS

Latent PolyA was more frequent than overt PolyA, ranging from 69.9% in RA to 100% in SSc. Nevertheless, both latent and overt PolyA clustered together. Over-expressed IgG autoantibodies were found to be hallmarks for the identification of index ADs. The combination of autoantibodies allowed high accuracy in the classification of ADs. Three well-defined clusters based on PolyA were observed with distinctive clinical and immunological phenotypes.

CONCLUSIONS

This proof-of-concept study indicates that ADs can be classified according to PolyA. PolyA should be considered in all studies dealing with ADs, including epidemiological, genetic, and clinical trials.

Prevalence of latent and overt polyautoimmunity in autoimmune thyroid disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Thyroid autoimmunity is the most frequent condition involved in polyautoimmunity (PolyA). However, the frequency of latent and overt PolyA in patients with autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD) as the index condition is unknown. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of these types of PolyA in patients with AITD as the index condition.

METHODS

This study adhered to the relevant sections of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guideline. Searches through MEDLINE, Embase and LILACS were done to find articles in Spanish and English. Relevant vocabulary terms and key terms related to AITD and other autoimmune diseases were used. Two investigators independently screened the eligible studies, extracted data and assessed the quality and risk of bias. Fixed and random effect models were used accordingly. Cluster analysis was used to determine similarities among diseases in the articles included (based on Jaccard index).

RESULTS

A total of 56 articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Of these, 25 were case-controls, 17 were cohorts, and 14 were cross-sectional studies. These studies included a total of 47 509 patients. Female was the predominant gender and included 38 950 patients (81.23%, 95% CI: 80.85-81.60). Graves' disease (GD) was the most common type of thyroid autoimmunity (69.16%, 95% CI: 68.23-70.07). Globally, overt PolyA was found in 13.46% of the patients with AITD. This type of PolyA was represented mainly by type 1 diabetes and autoimmune gastritis. Latent PolyA was presented in 17.45% of the patients, and anti-proinsulin, anti-parietal cells and dsDNA antibodies were the most common. HT had the highest frequency of overt PolyA in Europe (15.60%, 95% CI: 14.72-16.53), whereas latent PolyA was most common in patients with GD in Asia (21.03%, 95% CI: 17.76-24.71). Overt and latent PolyA were associated with gastrointestinal and endocrinological ADs in most of cases and clustered with rheumatological, dermatological and neurological ADs.

CONCLUSIONS

Latent and overt PolyA are common in patients with AITD. These results provide insightful information for early diagnosis and management of concurrent ADs in patients with AITD. Aggregation of ADs in different clusters may help to define different phenotypes associated with thyroid autoimmunity that are critically relevant in clinical settings.