January 2021 Scleroderma News

Large-scale characterization of systemic sclerosis serum protein profile: Comparison to peripheral blood cell transcriptome and correlations with skin/lung fibrosis. Diffuse scleroderma has a distinct serum protein profile with prominent dysregulation of proteins related to fibrosis and immune cell adhesion/diapedesis. PubMed, Arthritis Rheumatol, 11/01/2020. (Also see Diffuse Scleroderma and Skin Fibrosis)

Factors associated with fears due to COVID-19: A scleroderma patient-centered intervention network (SPIN) COVID-19 cohort study. Fears due to COVID-19 were associated with clinical and functional vulnerabilities in this chronically ill population. PubMed, J Psychosom Res, 2020 Nov 25;140:110314. (Also see Anxiety and Attitude)

Risk of death among people with rare autoimmune rheumatic diseases (RAIRD) compared to the general population in England during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. The risk of all-cause death is more prominently raised during COVID-19 among people with RAIRD than among the general population. PubMed, Rheumatology (Oxford), 2020 Dec 4;keaa855. (Also see Prognosis and Mortality)

Infection or autoimmunity? The clinical challenge of interstitial lung disease in systemic sclerosis during COVID 19 pandemic. The striking CT similarities between the 2 diseases make difficult to distinguish a worsening of SSc-ILD from COVID-19 superinfection. PubMed, J Rheumatol, 2020 Dec 1;jrheum.200832. (Also see Correlation between Pulmonary Fibrosis and other Diseases or Complications)

Transcriptional insights into pathogenesis of cutaneous systemic sclerosis using pathway driven meta-analysis assisted by machine learning methods. Our analysis unveiled an important 80 pathway signatures that differentiated SSc patients into 8 unique subtypes. PubMed, PLoS One, 2020 Nov 30;15(11):e0242863. (Also see Causes of Scleroderma)

Increased expression of interferon regulated and antiviral response genes in CD31+/CD102+ lung microvascular endothelial cells from systemic sclerosis patients with end-stage interstitial lung disease. These observations suggest that interferon-induced and antiviral response proteins may participate in the pathogenesis of SSc vasculopathy and SSc-ILD. PubMed, Clin Exp Rheumatol, 11/17/2020. (Also see Pulmonary Fibrosis)

Skin Histology in Systemic Sclerosis: a Relevant Clinical Biomarker. The possibility that skin histology may be useful as a predictive biomarker was suggested by a recent study that identified genes related to skin aSMA and CD34 staining intensity. PubMed, Curr Rheumatol Rep, 2020 Nov 26;23(1):3. (Also see Prognosis and Mortality)

Longitudinal analysis of T-cell receptor repertoires reveals persistence of antigen-driven CD4 + and CD8 + T-cell clusters in systemic sclerosis. Our results show that CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells are highly persistent in SSc patients over time, and this persistence is likely a result from antigenic selection. PubMed, J Autoimmun, 2020 Dec 8;117:102574. (Also see B Cells and T Cells)

Case Report: Primary central nervous system lymphoma in scleroderma. We hypothesize that removing immunosuppression could allow the immune system to generate an inflammatory response to an underlying tumor or viral antigen. Journal of Scleroderma and Related Disorders. (Also see Cancer)

Case report: Synchronous Volvulus of the Transverse Colon and Cecum Associated with Scleroderma and Lupus. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of synchronous double volvulus of the transverse colon and cecum. PubMed, Radiol Case Rep. (Also see Bowel Dysfunction and Symptoms and Complications of Lupus)

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