Human Leukocyte Antigen-DRB1 Associations in Korean Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to investigate the association of different subgroups of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) with human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II DR alleles. METHODS: One hundred and nineteen Korean juvenile rheumatoid arthritis patients were classified as HLA-DRB1 allele. To assess the frequency, phenotype frequencies of all JRA cases and each subtypes were compared to those of 485 adult controls. RESULTS: HLA-DRB1*01 was associated with increased risk of JRA. Furthermore, DRB1*01 was associated with polyarticular JRA and pauciarticular JRA. The frequencies of DRB1*14 and DRB1*15 were higher in systemic JRA patients than the controls. CONCLUSION: The data of this study on Korean children with JRA suggests that HLA-DRB1*01 was associated with the susceptibility of JRA. The study should be extended to include larger numbers of patients.

The Clinical Significance of Anti-cyclic Citrullinated Peptide Antibodies in Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the clinical significance of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) antibody in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA). METHODS: Sera for anti-CCP assay were obtained from 142 patients with arthralgia in our hospital during the period between November 2010 and October 2011. On the basis of medical records, 83 patients with JRA were designated to the study group, and 59 patients with arthralgia but were treated as transient arthritis to the control group. The values of anti-CCP were then analyzed retrospectively. We used the enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for detecting anti-CCP. RESULTS: Positive anti-CCP values were found in the sera of 11 patients with JRA (13.3%), one patient presented with pauciarticular JRA and the others with polyarticular JRA. There was a statistically significant difference in the anti-CCP values between the JRA group and the control group. However, patients with systemic JRA and arthralgia without JRA had no anti-CCP. Especially, 10 out of 14 (71.4%) patients with RF-positive polyarticular JRA had anti-CCP. In addition, the rate of positive anti-CCP was significantly higher in patients with polyarticular JRA than in the control group. CONCLUSION: We expect that the presence of anti-CCP may help to evaluate the severity of diseases in patients with JRA. Anti-CCP can be an important biomarker for making early intensive therapeutic decision in patients with polyarticular JRA, which might have more severe course and longer disease duration.

Erratum: Table 1, Table 3: Human Leukocyte Antigen-DRB1 Associations in Korean Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis

These are being published to correct the typo in Table 1 and Table 3.

Clinical and Epidemiological Study of 1,165 Hospitalized Cases of Rotaviral Gastroenteritis Before and After the Introduction of Rotavirus Vaccine, 2006-2013 / 소아감염

PURPOSE: This study was performed to assess the clinical and epidemiological changes after the introduction of the rotavirus vaccine in Korea, as well as to determine the efficacy of the rotavirus vaccine among hospitalized rotaviral gastroenteritis patients over the past two years. METHODS: We analyzed yearly and seasonal patterns of 1,165 inpatients who were hospitalized for rotaviral gastroenteritis under the age of 5 years between 2006 and 2013. We also conducted a survey among 460 gastroenteritis patients who were hospitalized between 2012 and 2013 regarding the rotavirus vaccination and the symptoms of gastroenteritis. Among those individuals surveyed, clinical indices were analyzed for 124 patients who were tested positive for the rotavirus antigen. RESULTS: The incidence of Rotaviral gastroenteritis have decreased significantly by year 2010. After the introduction and widespread dissemination of the rotavirus vaccine, the onset of the disease and the seasonal peak have been delayed. Overall, the vaccinated group showed a lower rate of positivity than the unvaccinated group. Among the hospitalized rotaviral gastroenteritis patients, the vaccinated group had a shorter hospitalization period, less severe clinical symptoms of gastroenteritis, and better laboratory test results. CONCLUSIONS: After introduction of the rotavirus vaccine in Korea, there were two main trends observed: 1) the overall level of disease incidence was reduced; 2) the severity of rotaviral gastroenteritis cases also decreased. Based on this data, more children should receive vaccination in order to prevent the rotavirus infection and decrease the severity of rotaviral gastroenteritis.