Vyzhga Y, Wittkowski H, Hentgen V, Georgin-Lavialle S, Theodoropoulou A , et al.
Pediatric rheumatology online journal •
Systemic autoinflammatory disorders (SAIDs) represent a growing spectrum of diseases characterized by dysregulation of the innate immune system. The most common pediatric autoinflammatory fever syndrome, Periodic Fever, Aphthous Stomatitis, Pharyngitis, Adenitis (PFAPA), has well defined clinical diagnostic criteria, but there is a subset of patients who do not meet these criteria and are classified as undefined autoinflammatory diseases (uAID). This project, endorsed by PRES, supported by the EMERGE fellowship program, aimed to analyze the evolution of symptoms in recurrent fevers without molecular diagnosis in the context of undifferentiated AIDs, focusing on PFAPA and syndrome of undifferentiated recurrent fever (SURF), using data from European AID registries. Data of patients with PFAPA, SURF and uSAID were collected from 3 registries including detailed epidemiological, demographic and clinical data, results of the genetic testing and additional laboratory investigations with retrospective application of the modified Marshall and PRINTO/Eurofever classification criteria on the cohort of PFAPA patients and preliminary SURF criteria on uSAID/SURF patients. Clinical presentation of PFAPA is variable and some patients did not fit the conventional PFAPA criteria and exhibit different symptoms. Some patients did not meet the criteria for either PFAPA or SURF, highlighting the heterogeneity within these groups. The study also explored potential overlaps between PFAPA and SURF/uAID, revealing that some patients exhibited symptoms characteristic of both conditions, emphasizing the need for more precise classification criteria. Patients with recurrent fevers without molecular diagnoses represent a clinically heterogeneous group. Improved classification criteria are needed for both PFAPA and SURF/uAID to accurately identify and manage these patients, ultimately improving clinical outcomes.
Karamanakos A, Vougiouka O, Sapountzi E, Venetsanopoulou AI, Tektonidou MG , et al.
Frontiers in immunology •
To assess the impact conferred by variants on the clinical spectrum of patients with systemic autoinflammatory diseases (SAIDs) in Greece. Consecutive patients (n=167) with confirmed SAIDs who underwent screening by next generation sequencing (NGS) targeting 26 SAID-associated genes, and carried at least one gene variant, were retrospectively studied. The demographic, clinical and laboratory parameters were recorded. In total, 24 rare variants in 23/167 patients (14%) were detected. Notably, 18 patients had at least one co-existing variant in 13 genes other than . Nine patients had juvenile- and 14 adult-onset disease. All patients presented with symptoms potentially induced by the variants. In particular, the candidate clinical diagnosis was Yao syndrome (YAOS) in 12 patients (7% of the whole SAID cohort). The clinical spectrum of patients with YAOS (mean episode duration 8 days) was fever (n=12/12), articular symptoms (n=8), gastrointestinal symptoms (n=7; abdominal pain/bloating in 7; diarrhea in 4; oral ulcers in 3), serositis (n=7), and rash (n=5), while the inflammatory markers were elevated in all but one patient. Most of these patients showed a poor response to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (n=7/9), colchicine (n=6/8) and/or anti-TNF treatment (n=3/4), while a complete response was observed in 6/10 patients receiving steroids and 3/5 on anti-IL1 treatment. Another 8 patients were diagnosed with either FMF (n=6) or PFAPA syndrome (n=2) presenting with prominent diarrhea (n=7), oral ulcers (n=2), periorbital swelling and sicca-like symptoms (n=1), or maculopapular rash (n=1). One patient had a clinically undefined SAID, albeit characterized by oral ulcers and diarrhea. Finally, one patient presented with chronic relapsing urticaria with periorbital edema and inflammatory markers, and another one had a Crohn-like syndrome with good response to anti-IL-1 but refractory to anti-TNF treatment. variants were detected in 1 out of 7 SAID patients and seem to have an impact on disease phenotype and treatment response. Further studies should validate combined molecular and clinical data to better understand these distinct nosological entities.
Karamanakos A, Tektonidou M, Vougiouka O, Gerodimos C, Katsiari C , et al.
Seminars in arthritis and rheumatism •
To assess the possible impact conferred by co-existing variants in MEditerranean FeVer (MEFV) and other genes on systemic autoinflammatory disease (SAID) phenotype. Consecutive patients (n = 42) who underwent screening for SAIDs by next generation sequencing (NGS) targeting 26 genes, and carried at least one MEFV gene variant, were retrospectively studied. A total of 63 MEFV gene variants mainly located in exon 10 (n = 29) and exon 2 (n = 19) were identified in 21 patients with juvenile- and 21 with adult-onset disease. The candidate clinical diagnosis was Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF) in 11, polygenic SAIDs (PFAPA, Still's disease, atypical SAPHO and inflammatory bowel disease) in 9, whereas the disease could not be clinically defined in 22 patients. Notably, 33 out of the 42 patients (79%) had at least one co-existing variants in 19 genes other than MEFV. NGS confirmed all clinical diagnoses and helped defining diagnosis in 59% of the remaining cases. Patients with undefined SAIDs (n = 9) or atypical FMF phenotype (n = 12) carried significantly more disease-causing variants in genes other than MEFV compared to patients with typical FMF (n = 9). More than one variants in these genes were significantly associated with adult-onset disease, while disease-causing variants in the same genes were also associated with an overall more severe SAID phenotype. Co-existing variants in SAID-related genes may explain the phenotypic variability of these diseases. Further studies should validate combined molecular and clinical data in order to better understand the cumulative gene dosage effect and improve the classification of these patients.
Ter Haar N, Lachmann H, Özen S, Woo P, Uziel Y , et al.
Annals of the rheumatic diseases •
To evaluate the response to treatment of autoinflammatory diseases from an international registry and an up-to-date literature review. The response to treatment was studied in a web-based registry in which clinical information on anonymised patients with autoinflammatory diseases was collected retrospectively as part of the Eurofever initiative. Participating hospitals included paediatric rheumatology centres of the Paediatric Rheumatology International Trial Organisation network and adult centres with a specific interest in autoinflammatory diseases. The following diseases were included: familial Mediterranean fever (FMF), cryopyrin-associated periodic syndromes (CAPS), tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-receptor associated periodic syndrome (TRAPS), mevalonate kinase deficiency (MKD), pyogenic arthritis pustulosis acne (PAPA) syndrome, deficiency of interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (DIRA), NLRP12-related periodic fever and periodic fever aphthosis pharyngitis adenitis (PFAPA) syndrome. Cases were independently validated by experts for each disease. A literature search regarding treatment of the abovementioned diseases was also performed using Medline and Embase. 22 months from the beginning of the enrolment, complete information on 496 validated patients was available. Data from the registry in combination with evidence from the literature confirmed that colchicine is the treatment of choice for FMF and IL-1 blockade for DIRA and CAPS. Corticosteroids on demand probably represent a valid therapeutic strategy for PFAPA, but also for MKD and TRAPS. Patients with poorly controlled MKD, TRAPS, PAPA or FMF may benefit from IL-1 blockade; anti-TNF treatment may represent a possible valuable alternative. In the absence of high-grade evidence, these results could serve as a basis for therapeutic guidelines and to identify candidate drugs for future therapeutic trials.
