Histone antibodies as a biomarker of uveitis in JIA

Ellen B Nordal,Anders Fasth,Lillemor Berntson,Suvi Peltoniemi,Susan Nielsen,Marek Zak,Troels Herlin,Marite Rygg,Kristiina Aalto

doi:10.1186/1546-0096-12-s1-o4

Abstract

Uveitis is the most common extraarticular manifestation of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). The nature of JIA-associated uveitis is often insidious and asymptomatic, and baseline predictors can aid early diagnosis of eye disease for prompt and adequate treatment. Antihistone antibodies (AHA) are among subtypes of antinuclear antibodies (ANA) identified in children with JIA. An association between early-onset JIA, oligoarthritis and uveitis is shown in some studies, and we have previously shown that AHA is a significant predictor of chronic uveitis in a Norwegian JIA cohort. New interest for histones has emerged because epigenetic alterations of these DNA-binding molecules may be involved in the pathological processes of autoimmunity.

Highlights

Uveitis is the most common extraarticular manifestation of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA)
Serum samples taken early after disease onset were analyzed for Antihistone antibodies (AHA) IgG/IgM in an enzyme immunoassay (Varelisa EIA Pharmacia Diagnostics) for the Danish and Swedish cohort
Uveitis occurred in 21.7 % of the 424 children with regular ophtalmologic follow-up, among the total cohort of 500 children

Summary

Introduction

Uveitis is the most common extraarticular manifestation of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). The nature of JIAassociated uveitis is often insidious and asymptomatic, and baseline predictors can aid early diagnosis of eye disease for prompt and adequate treatment. Antihistone antibodies (AHA) are among subtypes of antinuclear antibodies (ANA) identified in children with JIA. An association between early-onset JIA, oligoarthritis and uveitis is shown in some studies, and we have previously shown that AHA is a significant predictor of chronic uveitis in a Norwegian JIA cohort. New interest for histones has emerged because epigenetic alterations of these DNA-binding molecules may be involved in the pathological processes of autoimmunity

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Methods

Results