Favorable long term effects of intensified immunosuppression combined with therapeutic plasma exchange in patients with early-onset progressive systemic sclerosis-related interstitial lung disease.

Objective: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) related mortality and morbidity remains high. Immunosuppressive therapy is considered most effective when immune activity and inflammation but not fibrosis still dominates the disease process. This study evaluated long-term intensified immunosuppression combined with therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) in early-onset progressive SSc-related interstitial lung disease (ILD). Methods: The study cohort consisted of 161 SSc patients, with a median follow-up time of 8.9 years. The standardized mortality rate (SMR) and overall survival was calculated in patients with and without cardiopulmonary involvement. We used a standardized, pragmatic, non-randomized approach to treat 24 consecutive early progressive SSc-ILD patients with intensified immunosuppressive therapy, including plasma exchange. Outcome measurements were event-free survival (EFS), pulmonary function and safety profile. The outcome was compared with the analyzed data from the other SSc-ILD patients, who did not fulfill the inclusion criteria, and instead were treated with estimated optimal care (EOc). Results: The age-adjusted SMR of all 161 SSc patients was 3.0 (CI95%; 0.32-5.68). EFS at 10 years was 49.9% in the intensified treatment group and 43.3% in the EOc group (p = 0.106). Improvement of the percentage of predicted forced vital capacity (%pFVC) and percentage of predicted diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (%pDLco) in the intensified treatment group was +10.1% respectively +3.6%, compared to a decrease of respectively 10.8% and 7% in the EOc (p < 0.001 resp. p = 0.019). Safety analysis showed 1 death (female patient, over 75 years of age), due to pneumosepsis, in the intensified treatment group. Conclusion: Intensified and long-lasting immunosuppression combined with TPE is safe in early severe systemic sclerosis and is associated with improved EFS and pulmonary function as compared to the outcome in the variable but EOc group. Our findings warrant larger studies for confirmation.

Cryoglobulinaemic vasculitis in a patient with chronic hepatitis C: favourable outcome due to direct-acting antivirals.

This case report describes a patient who presented with a debilitating hepatitis C virus-related cryoglobulinaemic vasculitis who was treated with immunosuppression and direct-acting antivirals. After returning symptoms revealed a relapse of the hepatitis C virus infection, treatment with direct-acting antivirals was repeated. Subsequently, he achieved a sustained virological response and his vasculitis subsided.

A Dutch consensus statement on the diagnosis and treatment of ANCA-associated vasculitis.

INTRODUCTION: Despite the availability of several guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis (AAV), clinical routine practice will only improve when an implementation strategy is in place to support clinical decision making and adequate implementation of guidelines. We describe here an initiative to establish national and multidisciplinary consensus on broad aspects of the diagnosis and treatment of AAV relevant to daily clinical practice in the Netherlands. METHODS: A multidisciplinary working group of physicians in the Netherlands with expertise on AAV addressed the broad spectrum of diagnosis, terminology, and immunosuppressive and non-immunosuppressive treatment, including an algorithm for AAV patients. Based on recommendations from (inter)national guidelines, national consensus was established using a Delphi-based method during a conference in conjunction with a nationally distributed online consensus survey. Cut-off for consensus was 70% (dis)agreement. RESULTS: Ninety-eight professionals were involved in the Delphi procedure to assess consensus on 50 statements regarding diagnosis, treatment, and organisation of care for AAV patients. Consensus was achieved for 37/50 statements (74%) in different domains of diagnosis and treatment of AAV including consensus on the treatment algorithm for AAV. CONCLUSION: We present a national, multidisciplinary consensus on a diagnostic strategy and treatment algorithm for AAV patients as part of the implementation of (inter)national guideline-derived recommendations in the Netherlands. Future studies will focus on evaluating local implementation of treatment protocols for AAV, and assessments of current and future clinical practice variation in the care for AAV patients in the Netherlands.

Necrotizing vasculitis in immediate response to a shoulder dislocation.

The shoulder is one of the most commonly dislocated joints in the human body. Complications usually represent local damage. However, it is unclear whether joint dislocations can have systemic sequellae as wSell. Here we present the case of an 86-year-old female who developed necrotizing cryoglobulinaemic vasculitis in immediate response to a shoulder dislocation. We hypothesize there might be a link between trauma and systemic disease.

Diagnostic ANCA algorithms in daily clinical practice: evidence, experience, and effectiveness.

Detection of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) for ANCA-associated vasculitides (AAV) is based on indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) on ethanol-fixed neutrophils and reactivity toward myeloperoxidase (MPO) and proteinase 3 (PR3). According to the international consensus for ANCA testing, presence of ANCA should at least be screened for by IIF and, if positive, followed by antigen-specific immunoassays. Optimally, all samples are analyzed by both IIF and quantitative antigen-specific immunoassays. Since the establishment of this consensus many new technologies have become available and this has challenged the positioning of IIF in the testing algorithm for AAV. In the current paper, we summarize the novelties in ANCA diagnostics and discuss the possible implications of these developments for the different ANCA algorithms that are currently applied in routine diagnostic laboratories. Possible consequences of replacing ANCA assays by novel methods are illustrated by our data obtained in daily clinical practice. Eventually, it is questioned if there is a need to change the consensus, and if so, whether IIF can be discarded completely, or be used as a confirmation assay instead of a screening assay. Both alternative options require that ANCA requests for AAV can be separated from ANCA requests for gastrointestinal autoimmune diseases.

Endothelial progenitor cells are differentially impaired in ANCA-associated vasculitis compared to healthy controls.

BACKGROUND: Endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) are of major importance in vascular repair under healthy circumstances. Vascular injury in need of repair occurs frequently in ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV). A specialized T cell subset enhancing EPC function and differentiation has recently been described. These angiogenic T cells (Tang) may have an important impact on the vascular repair process. Therefore, the aim of our study was to investigate EPC and Tang in AAV. METHODS: Fifty-three patients suffering from AAV and 29 healthy controls (HC) were enrolled in our study. Forty-four patients were in remission, nine patients were in active state of disease. Patients were either untreated or were under monotherapy with low-dose steroids (max. 5 mg/day) at the time of sampling. Circulating EPC and Tang were determined by flow cytometry (FACS). The functional capacity of EPC was assessed by established cell culture methods. RESULTS: Circulating EPC were significantly decreased in AAV as compared to HC. The capacity of EPC to differentiate and proliferate was differentially impaired in patients as compared to HC. The outgrowth of endothelial colony-forming cells (ECFC) was severely decreased in patients whereas colony-forming units-endothelial cell (CFU-EC) outgrowth was unaffected. ECFC and CFU-EC differentiation was strictly T cell-dependent. Patients with a relapsing disease course had an impaired ECFC outgrowth and expansion of Tang as compared to patients with a stable, nonrelapsing disease. CONCLUSIONS: The differentiation process of EPC is impaired in AAV. This may favor insufficient vascular repair promoting a relapsing disease course. Finally, these factors may explain a higher cardiovascular morbidity as has been previously documented in AAV.

The avidity of PR3-ANCA in patients with granulomatosis with polyangiitis during follow-up.

The objective of this study is to investigate whether the avidity of proteinase-3-anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (PR3-ANCA) changes during follow-up in different subgroups of patients with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA). We selected 10 patients with renal relapsing GPA, 10 patients with renal non-relapsing GPA and 10 patients with non-renal relapsing GPA. In all patients, an ANCA rise occurred during remission. The avidity was measured using a chaotropic approach at the time of an ANCA rise and at the time of a relapse in relapsing patients or time-matched during remission in non-relapsing patients. No difference was observed in the avidity at the ANCA rise between renal relapsing patients [26·2% (15·5-47·5)], renal patients without a relapse [39·6% (21·2-63·4)] and non-renal relapsing patients [34·2% (21·6-59·5)]. In renal relapsing patients, the avidity increased significantly from the moment of the ANCA rise to the relapse [difference 6·4% (0·0-17·1), P = 0·0273]. The avidity did not increase after an ANCA rise in renal non-relapsing patients [difference 3·5 (-6·0 to 10·1), P = 0·6250] or in non-renal relapsing patients [difference -3·1% (-8·0 to 5·0), P = 0·5703]. The avidity of PR3-ANCA increases after an ANCA rise during follow-up in renal relapsing patients, but not after an ANCA rise in renal patients who remain in remission or in non-renal relapsing patients.

Prevalence and prognostic relevance of cardiac involvement in ANCA-associated vasculitis: eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis and granulomatosis with polyangiitis.

BACKGROUND: To investigate the prevalence and prognostic relevance of cardiac involvement in an ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) population of eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) and granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) patients. METHODS: Prospective cohort study of fifty EGPA and forty-one GPA patients in sustained remission without previous in-depth cardiac screening attending our clinical immunology outpatient department. Cardiac screening included clinical evaluation, ECG, 24-hour Holter registration, echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) with coronary angiography and endomyocardial biopsy upon indication. Fifty age-, sex- and cardiovascular risk factor-matched control subjects were randomly selected from a population study. Long-term outcome was assessed using all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. RESULTS: A total of 91 AAV-patients (age 60±11, range 63-87years) were compared to 50-matched control subjects (age 60±9years, range 46-78years). ECG and echocardiography demonstrated cardiac abnormalities in 62% EGPA and 46% GPA patients vs 20% controls (P<0.001 and P=0.014, respectively). A total of 69 AAV-patients underwent additional CMR, slightly increasing the prevalence of cardiac involvement to 66% in EGPA and 61% in GPA patients. After a mean follow-up of 53±18months, presence of cardiac involvement using ECG and echocardiography in AAV-patients showed increased all-cause and cardiovascular mortality (Log-rank P=0.015 and Log-rank P=0.021, respectively). CONCLUSION: Cardiac involvement in EGPA and GPA patients with sustained remission is high, even if symptoms are absent and ECG is normal. Moreover, cardiac involvement is a strong predictor of (cardiovascular) mortality. Therefore, risk stratification using cardiac imaging is recommended in all AAV-patients, irrespective of symptoms or ECG abnormalities.

Immunoglobulin G anti-endothelial cell antibodies: inducers of endothelial cell apoptosis in pulmonary arterial hypertension?

Endothelial cell (EC) apoptosis seems to play an important role in the pathophysiology of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). We aimed to test the hypothesis that circulating anti-endothelial cell antibodies (AECA) of PAH patients induce EC apoptosis. Immunoglobulin (Ig)G was purified from sera of PAH patients (n = 26), patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) nephritis without PAH (n = 16), patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) without PAH (n = 58) and healthy controls (n = 14). Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were incubated with patient or healthy control IgG for 24 h. Thereafter, apoptosis was quantified by annexin A5 binding and hypoploid cell enumeration by flow cytometry. Furthermore, real-time cell electronic sensing (RT-CES™) technology was used to monitor the effects of purified IgG from patient and healthy control IgG on HUVECs. As demonstrated previously, IgG of AECA-positive SLE nephritis patients (n = 7) induced a higher percentage of apoptosis of HUVECs compared to IgG of AECA-negative SLE nephritis patients and healthy controls. Furthermore, IgG of AECA-positive SLE nephritis patients induced a marked decrease in cell index as assessed by RT-CES™ technology. IgG of AECA-positive PAH patients (n = 12) and SSc patients (n = 13) did not alter the percentage of HUVEC apoptosis or cell index compared to IgG of AECA-negative PAH and SSc patients and healthy controls. AECA-positive PAH patients, in contrast to SLE nephritis patients, do not have circulating IgG AECA that enhances apoptosis of HUVECs in vitro. Further studies should focus on other mechanisms by which AECA may enhance EC apoptosis in PAH, such as antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity.

Regulatory B cells in ANCA-associated vasculitis.

OBJECTIVES: B cells have immunoregulatory function acting as antigen-presenting cells. A separate subset of interleukin (IL)-10 producing B cells (Breg) regulating T cell mediated immunity has been identified. In the present study, we investigated the role of Breg in antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies-associated vasculitis (AAV). METHODS: 17 healthy controls (HCs) and 41 patients with AAV were enrolled. 30 patients with AAV were in remission. Furthermore, 11 patients with AAV with active disease were studied. Breg were defined as IL-10(+)CD19(+) B cells upon culture with cytosine-phosphate-guanosine oligodeoxynucleotide (CpG ODN) 2006. Next to Breg, CD4(+)CD127(low)CD25(hi)CD39(neg)/CD39(+) regulatory T-cells (Treg), interferon (IFN)γ(+), IL-4(+) and Il-17A(+)T helper cell subsets were determined via flow cytometry. RESULTS: Patients with active or quiescent disease showed a diminished fraction of Breg as compared with HCs. The frequency of IFNγ(+) T helper cells was negatively associated with Breg in untreated AAV in remission but not in active vasculitis or in HCs. Interestingly, the total Treg population and the CD39(+) Treg subpopulation correlated positively with Breg in inactive patients with AAV. CONCLUSIONS: IL-10 producing B cells are diminished in AAV. Furthermore, Breg might regulate Th1 cells and are associated with Treg in quiescent AAV. Suppression of Th1 cells by Breg may be insufficient in active AAV.

A novel enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using a mixture of human native and recombinant proteinase-3 significantly improves the diagnostic potential for antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis.

BACKGROUND: Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) with a C-ANCA or P-ANCA pattern are detected in ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV). While in most patients with AAV a C-ANCA pattern is due to reactivity with proteinase-3 (PR3)-ANCA, some C-ANCA-positive sera do not react with PR3. OBJECTIVE: The development and evaluation of a direct enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for PR3-ANCA with increased sensitivity. METHODS: A mixture of human native (hn) and human recombinant (hr) PR3 was used as antigen coating. The resulting ELISA (anti-PR3-hn-hr) was compared with ELISAs using directly coated hn-PR3 or hr-PR3, as well as with a hn-PR3 capture ELISA. Assay characteristics were determined in patients with AAV (n = 248), with special attention for those patients with C-ANCA (n = 132), as well as disease controls (n = 585) and healthy controls (n = 429). Additionally, for prediction of relapses serial samples of 46 patients with PR3-AAV were analysed. RESULTS: At a predefined specificity of 99% both ELISAs containing hr-PR3 revealed a substantial increase in sensitivity. For the prediction of relapses by rises in PR3-ANCA titres the capture ELISA was most optimal (odds ratio 12.5). With an odds ratio of 8.9 the novel anti-PR3-hn-hr ELISA was second best. CONCLUSIONS: Owing to the very high sensitivity of the novel anti-PR3-hn-hr ELISA for the detection of PR3-ANCA in C-ANCA-positive samples of patients with AAV this assay has an excellent diagnostic performance. This feature is combined with a good predictability of clinical relapses in patients with PR3-AAV. These characteristics challenge the dogma that, for detection of PR3-ANCA, capture ELISAs are superior for diagnosis and follow-up.

Evaluation of the FIDIS vasculitis multiplex immunoassay for diagnosis and follow-up of ANCA-associated vasculitis and Goodpasture's disease.

We have evaluated a new-multiplex immunoassay (FIDIS Vasculitis) for simultaneous detection and quantification of anti-MPO, -PR3, and -glomerular basement membrane (GBM) antibodies in diagnosis and follow-up of ANCA-associated vasculitides (AAV) and Goodpasture's disease. ANCA were determined in sera of (a) 87 consecutive patients with biopsy-proven pauci-immune NCGN and 72 controls; (b) 9 patients with Goodpasture's disease; and (c) 60 WG patients and 60 controls, previously used in a multicenter comparison of direct and capture ELISA for PR3-ANCA. Finally, for prediction of relapses, PR3-ANCA was measured in samples preceding relapse in 23 PR3-AAV patients and in 23 matched PR3-AAV patients without relapse. The relative sensitivity of the FIDIS Vasculitis assay was 97.4% for MPO-ANCA and 92.3% for PR3-ANCA; specificity was 100% and 97.2%, respectively. Evaluation of the anti-GBM antibody detection revealed a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 99.6%. The sensitivity for WG of the PR3-ANCA detection (71.6%) approached the performance of capture ELISA (74%), although at the cost of specificity (96.7% versus 100%). For prediction of relapses a rise of 50% in ANCA level by FIDIS Vasculitis appeared optimal (ROC curve) for prediction of relapses. However, as compared to capture ELISA, both positive (63% versus 76%) and negative (68% versus 72%) predictive values were reduced. In conclusion, simultaneous detection of anti-MPO, -PR3, and -GBM antibodies in the multiplex FIDIS Vasculitis assay has excellent performance in terms of diagnosis of patients with AAV or Goodpasture's disease. However, detection of rises in PR3-ANCA for prediction of relapses gives less optimal results when compared to capture ELISA.

Type II cryoglobulinemia is not associated with hepatitis C infection: the Dutch experience.

Mixed cryoglobulinemia (MC) are cryoprecipitable immunocomplexes. In type II MC, a combination of polyclonal and monoclonal immunoglobulins is found, whereas in type III a combination of polyclonal immunoglobulins is detected. MC is usually associated with hepatitis C (HCV) infection as has been found in studies that have been performed in countries with a high prevalence of HCV. Because HCV has an extremely low prevalence in the Netherlands (<0.1% of the population), we wondered whether HCV is also associated with MC in our regional referral center. To answer this question, we tested consecutive patients with type II MC for HCV antibodies and for HCV-mRNA by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Between January 2000 and June 2005, 22 patients tested positive for type II MC. Seven patients had essential MC, 2 patients had MC due to a lymphoproliferative disease, 10 patients had MC in the context of a systemic autoimmune disease, and 3 patients had MC without a clear diagnosis. HCV antibodies were not detected in any of the 22 patients. Also, all samples tested negative for HCV-mRNA. During follow-up none of these patients developed an HCV infection. In summary, the estimated occurrence of HCV in 60-90% of patients with MC is not found in our region where MC is only infrequently associated with HCV. In a substantial proportion of our patients a really "essential MC" is observed. A search for yet unknown etiological factors is clearly needed in these patients, who frequently have severe renal involvement warranting aggressive immunosuppressive therapy.

Anti-oxidized low-density lipoprotein antibodies in myeloperoxidase-positive vasculitis patients preferentially recognize hypochlorite-modified low density lipoproteins.

Many patients surviving vasculitis are prone to accelerated atherosclerosis and often have enhanced levels of antibodies to oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL). To measure anti-oxLDL antibodies, oxidation of LDL is achieved with copper (Cu) or malondialdehyde (MDA). Because, in vivo, LDL may be oxidized with myeloperoxidase (MPO) or its product hypochlorite, we measured anti-hypochlorite LDL antibodies in patients with vasculitis, haemodialysis patients and healthy controls. A newly developed enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect antibodies to oxLDL as modified by hypochlorite. Results are compared with data obtained by standard LDL oxidation using MDA-LDL or Cu-LDL as substrate. Results were compared between anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV) patients (n = 93), haemodialysis (HD) patients (n = 59) and healthy controls (HC; n = 43). Furthermore, patients with MPO-ANCA-associated vasculitis (n = 47) were compared with patients with proteinase 3 (PR3)-ANCA associated vasculitis (n = 46). Optimal cut-off points were determined by receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Anti-oxLDL antibodies are enhanced in AAV patients (MDA-LDL and hypochlorite-LDL) and in HD patients (hypochlorite-LDL), when compared to HC. Furthermore, patients with MPO-ANCA-associated vasculitis had higher levels of antibodies to hypochlorite-LDL than patients with PR3-ANCA-associated vasculitis. Our newly developed assay, in which hypochlorite-LDL is used as substrate, seems a more sensitive assay than traditional assays to measure oxLDL antibodies. Furthermore, our results suggest that enhanced MPO-mediated LDL oxidation occurs in patients with MPO-ANCA.

Mechanisms of vasculitis: how pauci-immune is ANCA-associated renal vasculitis?

Both the innate and the acquired immune system are involved in the pathophysiology of renal vasculitis. However, anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated renal vasculitis is characterized by a 'pauci-immune' pattern of immunofluorescence during kidney biopsy, indicating the relative lack of immunoglobulin and complement deposition within the kidney. On the other hand, evidence is accumulating that ANCA, autoantibodies against constituents of primary granules of neutrophils and the lysosomes of monocytes, play a pathogenic role in renal vasculitis. In this review we will discuss both in vitro and in vivo experimental data providing compelling evidence that ANCA are a primary pathogenic factor in renal vasculitis, mainly by augmenting leukocyte-endothelial interactions. We will also address novel data, pointing at the role of, in addition to ANCA, non-specific proinflammatory signals. Finally, we propose a working hypothesis of the pathogenesis of ANCA-associated renal vasculitis.

Evaluation of a new fluorescent-enzyme immuno-assay for diagnosis and follow-up of ANCA-associated vasculitis.

In this study we have evaluated a new, fully automated fluorescent-enzyme immuno-assay (FEIA) for detection and quantification of anti-PR3 and anti-MPO ANCA in diagnosis and follow-up of ANCA-associated small vessel vasculitis (AAV). PR3- and MPO-ANCA were determined by FEIA technology in (1) sera of 87 consecutive patients with biopsy-proven, pauci-immune necrotizing crescentic glomerulonephritis (NCGN) and 72 controls; (2) 120 sera (60 patients with Wegener's granulomatosis and 60 controls) that were previously used in a multicentre comparison of direct and capture ELISAs for PR3-ANCA; (3) in samples preceding relapse in 23 PR3-AAV patients with and 23 matched PR3-AAV patients without relapse for prediction of relapses. PR3- and/or MPO-ANCA detection in pauci-immune NCGN by FEIA revealed an overall sensitivity of 82.8%. The FEIA specificity was 96% and 100% for PR3- and MPO-ANCA, respectively. The overall sensitivity of MPO- and PR3-ANCA could be increased to 88.5% by lowering the cut-off values without affecting the specificity (ROC-curve analysis), which is similar to a multistep ANCA procedure that combines indirect immunofluorescence with direct and capture ELISAs. The sensitivity for Wegener's granulomatosis (WG) of the PR3-ANCA FEIA (60%) was more comparable to direct ELISAs (64%) than to capture ELISAs (74%). A rise of 100% in ANCA level as measured by FEIA appeared optimal (ROC-curve) for prediction of relapses and such a rise was observed in 26 patients. In 18 of these 26 patients the rise was followed by a relapse (PPV 69%), whereas in 15 of the 20 patients without a rise no relapse was observed (NPV 75%). In conclusion, detection of PR3- and MPO-ANCA by FEIA has excellent performance in terms of diagnosis of AAV patients. Furthermore, detection of rises in PR3-ANCA by FEIA for prediction of relapses gives results comparable to other techniques.