Levels of F2 isoprostane in Behcet's disease: Correlation with cardiometabolic risk factors

Plasma Homocysteine in Behcet's Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

AIM

 To evaluate the relevance of plasma homocysteine (HC) in Behcet's disease (BD) and its clinical manifestations.

METHODS

 Systematic review of EMBASE and PubMed databases according to PRISMA guidelines from inception to July 2021; random-effects meta-analyses for continuous outcomes.

RESULTS

 The search strategy retrieved 48 case-control (2,669 BD and 2,245 control participants) and 5 cohort studies (708 BD participants). Plasma HC was higher in BD than in controls (p < 0.0001) with wide heterogeneity (I2  = 89.7%) that remained unchanged after sensitivity analysis according to year of article publication, age of BD participants, study size, study quality, method of HC determination, and male/female ratio >1.5; some pooled ethnicities explained a small part of the heterogeneity (I2  = 16.3%). Active BD participants had higher HC than inactive ones (p < 0.0001), with moderate heterogeneity (I2  = 49.2%) that disappeared after removal of an outlier study with very high disease activity. BD participants with any vascular involvement had higher HC than those without (p < 0.0001) with wide heterogeneity (I2  = 89.7%); subgroup analysis on venous thrombosis only changed neither effect size (p < 0.0001) nor heterogeneity (I2  = 72.7%). BD participants with ocular involvement had higher HC than those without (p < 0.0001) with moderate heterogeneity (I2  = 40.3%).

CONCLUSION

 Although causality cannot be inferred, the consistency of the elevation of plasma HC in BD, particularly in patients with active disease, with vascular and ocular involvement suggests an intrinsic involvement of HC in these clinical manifestations.

Do nonobese patients with Behçet's disease have insulin resistance?

BACKGROUND

Some studies have investigated the relationship between Behçet's disease (BD) and insulin resistance; however, since they did not exclude obese patients from their sample, it remains unclear whether BD itself causes insulin resistance independently of obesity.

METHODS

The study included 60 patients with BD and 45 age-, gender-, and body mass index (BMI)-matched healthy controls. Obese patients with a BMI of ≥30 kg/m² were excluded. Insulin resistance according to the homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (QUICKI), fasting plasma glucose, and one-hour and two-hour plasma glucose in the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT 1-h and OGTT 2-h PG, respectively) were evaluated in all patients.

RESULTS

The mean fasting plasma glucose levels and the rate of those with impaired glucose tolerance according to OGTT 2-h PG were significantly higher in the BD patients compared to the controls. The rates of those with insulin resistance according to HOMA-IR and QUICKI were significantly higher in the BD patients than in the controls. When compared to the control group, the rates of those with impaired fasting glucose and impaired glucose tolerance were significantly higher, and the mean QUICKI value was significantly lower in the active group, in contrast to the inactive group.

CONCLUSIONS

Insulin resistance occurs in BD patients independently of obesity. In the follow-up of BD patients, especially in the active phase, not only fasting blood glucose but also other diagnostic tests for insulin resistance should be added to the examination panels.

Isoprostane in systemic sclerosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVES

To further the knowledge of oxidative stress in systemic sclerosis (SSc), we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis on studies measuring isoprostane, a vasoactive agent deriving from arachidonic acid and implicated in the vasculopathy of SSc.

METHODS

Systematic search following the PRISMA guidelines in PubMed and EMBASE between January-1990/December-2017 using the terms: oxidative stress, isoprostane, systemic sclerosis and scleroderma.

RESULTS

After the screening process, 8 studies including 240 SSc patients and 192 controls were included in the systematic review and meta-analysis, 6 investigating urinary and 2 serum isoprostane: random effect meta-analysis revealed isoprostane overgeneration in SSc (p < .001) with wide heterogeneity (I² = 75%). Subgroup analysis on urinary isoprostane favoured excess excretion in SSc (p = .009) with slightly lower heterogeneity (I² = 67%); further subgroup analysis according to unit of measurement revealed no increased isoprostane excretion when expressed as pg/mg creatinine but increased when expressed as pmol/mmol creatinine (p = .05) with medium heterogeneity (I² = 32%). Subgroup analysis on serum isoprostane favoured overproduction in SSc (p < .0001) with no heterogeneity.

CONCLUSION

There is some evidence for isoprostane overgeneration in SSc that confirms the occurrence of oxidative stress in this setting: further prospective studies with specified outcomes are needed to evaluate the prognostic value of this functional biomarker.