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Allergol Immunopathol (Madr). 2021 Mar 1;49(2):217-224. doi: 10.15586/aei.v49i2.82. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is a rare primary immunodeficiency. Infections of lung, skin, lymph nodes, and liver are the hallmark of CGD and frequently the initial manifestation of the disease. The aim of the present paper is to describe the sites of infections and their causative agents in 38 pediatric patients with CGD.

METHODS: This retrospective, single-center cohort study included CGD patients followed at the allergy and immunology unit of a tertiary hospital in São Paulo, Brazil over the last 40 years. Sites of infections and their causative agents were described.

RESULTS: Thirty-eight patients were included (36 males). The median age of onset of symptoms was 45 days (ranging from 7 days-7 years), and the median age at diagnosis was 23 months (ranging from 1 month-12 years). In all, 31.6% of the patients reported a family history of child deaths and 21% (eight cases) had another male family member with CGD. The most common infections were pneumonia (81.6%), skin infections (50.0%), adenitis (42.1%), and liver abscess (23.7%); 188 cultures were positive (85.6% bacteria; 14.4% fungi). The most prevalent bacterial agents were Staphylococcus sp. (12.4%), Staphylococcus aureus (11.2%), and Klebsiella pneumoniae (9.3%). Aspergillus sp. and Candida sp. were 56% and 22.2% of the isolated fungi, respectively. Mycobacterium tuberculosis was isolated in 5.6% and Mycobacterium bovis in one patient (0.9%).

CONCLUSION: Staphylococcus sp., Staphylococcus aureus, and Aspergillus sp. were the most frequent agents found in this cohort. M. tuberculosis should be considered in endemic area. Detection of infectious agents drives to the adequate treatment and benefits the evolution of patients with CGD.

PMID:33641311 | DOI:10.15586/aei.v49i2.82

Allergol Immunopathol (Madr). 2021 Mar 1;49(2):178-190. doi: 10.15586/aei.v49i2.61. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

Primary immunodeficiency diseases (PIDs) are a group of more than 400 disorders representing aberrant functioning or development of immune system. Hypopigmentation syndromes also characterize a distinguished cluster of diseases. However, hypopigmentation may also signify a feature of genetic diseases associated with immunodeficiency, such as Chediak-Higashi syndrome, Griscelli syndrome type 2, Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome type 2 and type 10, Vici syndrome, and P14/LAMTOR2 deficiency, all of which are linked with dysfunction in vesicular/endosomal trafficking. Regarding the highly overlapping features, these disorders need a comprehensive examination for prompt diagnosis and effective management. As an aid to clinician, distinguishing the pathophysiology, clinical phenotype, and diagnosis as well as treatment options of the six mentioned PID disorders associated with hypopigmentation are described and discussed in this review.

PMID:33641308 | DOI:10.15586/aei.v49i2.61

Allergol Immunopathol (Madr). 2021 Mar 1;49(2):113-121. doi: 10.15586/aei.v49i2.34. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Novel immunodiagnostic markers are required in order to discriminate between mild hypogammaglobulinemia and severe humoral primary immune deficiencies in children. The efficacy of an antibody response to infections and vaccines is underpinned by T follicular helper (Tfh) cells, activating an immunoglobulin class switch recombination, somatic hypermutations, and affinity maturation.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the formation of the Tfh cells in antibody deficient children and to define their importance as prognostic markers helpful in defining the severity of hypogammaglobulinemia.

METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed medical records of 200 children aged from 2 months to 10 years, in whom hypogammaglobulinemia was assessed, from January to December 2019. In all the children studied, a flow cytometric analysis of the Tfh cell compartment was performed.

RESULTS: In young infants aged from 2 to 9 months, the mean relative frequency of the Tfh population was lower than in the control population. Concomitantly, the relative values of Tfh cells, corresponding with the 95th percentile, were below the reference values in all age groups.

CONCLUSIONS: A deficiency of Tfh cells in young infants mirrors the immaturity of the humoral immune response, whereas in older children Tfh cells are proposed as a prognostic marker facilitating to distinguish between mild hypogammaglobulinemia and the developing common variable immunodeficiency.

PMID:33641302 | DOI:10.15586/aei.v49i2.34

Allergol Immunopathol (Madr). 2021 Mar 1;49(2):84-93. doi: 10.15586/aei.v49i2.39. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) is one of the most prevalent forms of primary immunodeficiency diseases (PID). CVID is characterized by failure in the final differentiation of B lymphocytes and impaired antibody production but the pathogenesis is not known in the majority of patients. We postulated that the expression pattern of miRNAs in unsolved CVID patients might be the underlying epigenetic cause of the disease. Therefore, we aimed to assess the expression of hsa-miR-210-5p and FOXP3 transcription factor in CVID cases in comparison with healthy individuals.

METHODS: Eleven CVID cases with no genetic defects (all PID known genes excluded) and 10 sex and age-matched healthy individuals were enrolled in the study. T lymphocytes were purified from PBMC, and expression levels of miR-210-5p and FOXP3 mRNA were evaluated by real-time PCR.

RESULTS: We demonstrated that miR-210 expression in patients was significantly higher than the control group (P = 0.03). FOXP3 expression was slightly lower in patients compared with healthy controls (P = 0.86). There was a negative correlation between miR and gene expression (r: -0.11, P = 0.73). Among various clinical complications, autoimmunity showed a considerable rate in high-miR patients (P = 0.12, 42.8%), while autoimmunity was not observed in normal miR-210 patients.

CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest a role for miR-210 in the pathogenesis of autoimmunity in CVID patients. Further studies would better elucidate epigenetic roles in CVID patients with no genetic defects.

PMID:33641299 | DOI:10.15586/aei.v49i2.39

Allergol Immunopathol (Madr). 2021 Mar 1;49(2):80-83. doi: 10.15586/aei.v49i2.62. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA), the first known primary immunodeficiency, is caused by rare mutations in Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) gene. Mutations in the BTK gene lead to a failure in the development and maturation of B-cell linage. A decreased number of B-cells results in agammaglobulinemia and increased susceptibility to a variety of infections. Therefore, patients with XLA usually manifest with repetitive bacterial infections, such as upper respiratory tract infections, septic arthritis, osteomyelitis, and urinary tract infections, since their infancy.

PATIENTS: We report a 17-year-old Iranian boy with XLA, referred to us with a history of severe and recurrent episodes of bacterial infections for a period of six years.

RESULTS: Genetic analysis using the whole Exome sequencing revealed a hemizygous missense mutation in the BTK gene (c.428 A > T, p.His143Leu).

CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, c.428 A > T has not been reported in the BTK gene.

PMID:33641298 | DOI:10.15586/aei.v49i2.62

West Afr J Med. 2021 Feb;38(2):180-184.

ABSTRACT

Hyperimmunoglobulin E syndrome is a Primary Immuno-deficiency Syndrome (PIDS) characterized by high serum immunoglobulin E, eczema rash and recurrent sinopulmonary and skin infections. In this report, we present a case of squamous cell carcinoma of the lower lip in a young patient with Hyper IgE syndrome. The patient had initially developed a chronic non-healing ulcer and a biopsy done revealed a squamous cell carcinoma. Immunodeficiency has been recognized as an essential risk factor for cancer through immune dysregulation and defective immunosurveillance.

PMID:33641156

Asian Pac J Allergy Immunol. 2021 Feb 21. doi: 10.12932/AP-271219-0726. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Mendelian susceptibility to mycobacterial disease (MSMD) is a rare primary immunodeficiency, caused by non-tuberculous mycobacteria or Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine and characterized by severe diseases in childhood.

OBJECTIVE: In this study, we examined eight years followed-up 12 Turkish children with genetically proven MSMD and we tried to evaluate the survival rate with succesfull disease management, rate of consanguinity, molecular, cellular and clinical features of patients. In addition, we wanted to emphasize the importance of early diagnosis before administration of BCG vaccine in countries where this vaccine is routinely used.

METHODS: Twelve patients diagnosed with molecular studies [IFNγR1 complete (n = 1), IFNγR2 partial (n = 3), IL12Rβ1 (n = 6), NEMO (n = 1), STAT1 mutation (n = 1)] were included.

RESULTS: Ten patients (83%) were born from consanguineous parents and frequency of family history for the primary immunodeficiency was 58% (n = 7). All the cases had been immunized with BCG vaccine (Mycobacterium bovis) due to lack of early diagnosis. Two patients had BCG-itis and four patients had “BCG-osis”. Survival rate was 75% after successful disease management with antibiotics, anti-tuberculous agents and recombinant IFN-γ.

CONCLUSIONS: It was concluded that MSMD must be differentiated from different forms of primary immunodeficiencies, so clinicians should be aware of MSMD especially in patients with BCG vaccine complications and non-tuberculous mycobacterial infection.

PMID:33638623 | DOI:10.12932/AP-271219-0726

BMC Med Genomics. 2021 Feb 26;14(1):58. doi: 10.1186/s12920-021-00901-6.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Fetal hydrops is excessive extravasation of fluid into the third space in a fetus, which could be due to a wide differential of underlying pathology. IPEX (immune dysregulation, polyendocrinopathy, enteropathy, X-linked) syndrome primarily affects males. It is a monogenic primary immunodeficiency syndrome of X-linked recessive inheritance due to FOXP3 gene variants. It is characterised by the development of multiple autoimmune disorders in affected individuals.

CASE PRESENTATION: We present a rare cause of male fetal hydrops in the context of IPEX syndrome and discuss FOXP3 gene variants as a differential for ‘unexplained’ fetal hydrops that may present after the first trimester.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: In all similar cases, the pathological process begins during intrauterine life. Furthermore, there are no survivors described. Consequently, this variant should be considered as a severe one, associated with intrauterine life onset and fatal course, i.e., the most severe IPEX phenotype.

PMID:33637067 | DOI:10.1186/s12920-021-00901-6

Arch Iran Med. 2021 Feb 1;24(2):118-124. doi: 10.34172/aim.2021.18.

ABSTRACT

Clinical immunology and its subset topics are rather newly emerging medical fields in Iran as well as other developing countries. Primary immunodeficiency diagnosis and treatment were revolutionized in the late 1970s; a period of time that coincided with the establishment of the Division of Clinical Immunology and Allergy at the Children’s Medical Center, Tehran. Subsequently, the launch of fellowship training programs (in 1988), the development of a national Iranian Primary Immunodeficiency Diseases Registry (in 1999), the inauguration of Research Center for Immunodeficiencies (in 2009), and recently, the national primary immunodeficiency network (in 2016) significantly changed the picture of disease management during the last 40 years. In this review, we seek to elucidate the most important past events, current challenges and future directions regarding the field of primary immunodeficiency.

PMID:33636979 | DOI:10.34172/aim.2021.18

Rev Alerg Mex. 2020 Jul-Sep;67(3):268-278. doi: 10.29262/ram.v67i3.738.

ABSTRACT

In 2017, the Pediatric Hospital of Sinaloa (PHS) began its affiliation to the registry of patients with primary immunodeficiency or inborn errors of immunity (IEI) on the platform of the Latin American Society for Immunodeficiencies (LASID). During this period, twelve cases with IEI have been diagnosed and treated at the hospital. The age category at the time of diagnosis varied from two days to sixteen years old, and the range of the onset of the symptoms varied from nineteen days to four years, with a predominance of males (67%). The most frequent IEI was predominantly antibody deficiency (33.3%), followed by defects in the number or function of phagocytes (16.6%), autoinflammatory disorders (16.6%), immunodeficiencies that affect cellular and humoral immunity (16.6%), combined immunodeficiencies associated with syndromic findings (8.3%), and defects in intrinsic and inborn immunity (8.3%). 84% of patients received intravenous immunoglobulin and, in one case of a patient with Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome, a pathogenic variant in the WAS gene was identified; a patient received hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, 33.3% of patients died, of which 25% died of sepsis and 8.3% died of massive hemorrhage. The registry of IEI provides information about epidemiological data, incidences, prevalence, diagnoses, and treatments, which will favor the development of new health policies for obtaining resources and tools to improve the care models.

PMID:33636068 | DOI:10.29262/ram.v67i3.738