Antinuclear antibody-associated autoimmune cytopenia in childhood is a risk factor for systemic lupus erythematosus.

ABSTRACT: Autoimmune cytopenia (AIC) in children may be associated with positive antinuclear antibodies (ANA) and may progress to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We evaluated the risk of progression to SLE of childhood-onset ANA-associated AIC. In the French national prospective OBS'CEREVANCE cohort, the long-term outcome of children with ANA-associated AIC (ANA titer ≥1/160) and a subgroup of children who developed SLE were described. ANA were positive in 355 of 1803 (20%) children with AIC. With a median follow-up of 5.8 (range, 0.1-29.6) years, 79 of 355 (22%) patients developed SLE at a median age of 14.5 (1.1-21.4) years; 20% of chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura, 19% of autoimmune hemolytic anemia, and 45% of Evans syndrome. None of the patients with ANA-negative test developed SLE. Severe manifestations of SLE were observed in 21 patients, and 2 patients died. In multivariate analysis including patients with positive ANA within the first 3 months after AIC diagnosis, age >10 years at AIC diagnosis (relative risk [RR], 3.67; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.18-11.4; P = .024) and ANA titer >1/160 (RR, 5.28; 95% CI, 1.20-23.17; P = .027) were associated with the occurrence of SLE after AIC diagnosis. ANA-associated AIC is a risk factor for progression to SLE, especially in children with an initial ANA titer >1/160 and an age >10 years at AIC diagnosis. ANA screening should be recommended in children with AIC, and patients with ANA should be monitored long-term for SLE, with special attention to the transition period. This trial was registered at www.ClinicalTrials.gov as #NCT05937828.

Systemic lupus international collaborating clinics-2012 and European league against rheumatism/American college of rheumatology-2019 classification criteria for systemic lupus erythematosus associated with childhood-onset auto-immune cytopenia.

INTRODUCTION: Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) can be diagnosed using the 2012 criteria of the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC) and, more recently, the 2019 criteria of the European League Against Rheumatism/American College of Rheumatology (EULAR/ACR). Hematological involvement is scored differently by these classifications. Our objective was to compare both criteria in a cohort of children with autoimmune cytopenia (AIC)-associated SLE. METHOD: We included 79 patients with childhood-onset AIC as the first manifestations of SLE. RESULTS: The median age at SLE diagnosis was 14.5 years (1.1-21.4 years). The SLICC criteria were fulfilled by 76/79 (96%) patients and the EULAR/ACR criteria by 72/79 (91%) patients during follow-up. The SLICC and EULAR/ACR criteria were discordant (not concomitantly fulfilled) in 25/79 (32%) patients. Non-hematological clinical manifestations were more frequently observed in SLE diagnosis when the criteria were concordant (30/54, 56%) than when they were not (5/25, 20%) (p = 0.004). In 16/25 (64%) discordant patients, the SLICC criteria allowed earlier diagnosis of SLE. Finally, the attribution of a maximum weight of 6 to the hematological involvement of the EULAR/ACR criteria increased the sensitivity thereof from 63/79 (80%) to 76/79 (96%) in our population. CONCLUSION: The SLICC 2012 and EULAR/ACR 2019 criteria do not effectively diagnose SLE in children when AIC is the predominant feature. The SLICC criteria appear to be more effective in this population of SLE patients. An increase in the maximum weight of hematological involvement to 6 increases the sensitivity of the EULAR/ACR criteria for SLE diagnosis in children.

Pediatric refractory chronic immune thrombocytopenia: Identification, patients' characteristics, and outcome.

Refractory chronic immune thrombocytopenia (r-cITP) is one of the most challenging situations in chronic immune thrombocytopenia (cITP). Pediatric r-cITP is inconsistently defined in literature, contributing to the scarcity of data. Moreover, no evidence is available to guide the choice of treatment. We compared seven definitions of r-cITP including five pediatric definitions in 886 patients with cITP (median [min-max] follow-up 5.3 [1.0-29.3] years). The pediatric definitions identified overlapping groups of various sizes (4%-20%) but with similar characteristics (higher proportion of immunopathological manifestations [IM] and systemic lupus erythematosus [SLE]), suggesting that they adequately captured the population of interest. Based on the 79 patients with r-cITP (median follow-up 3.1 [0-18.2] years) according to the CEREVANCE definition (≥3 second-line treatments), we showed that r-cITP occurred at a rate of 1.15% new patients per year and did not plateau over time. In multivariate analysis, older age was associated with r-cITP. One patient (1%) experienced two grade five bleeding events after meeting r-cITP criteria and while not receiving second-line treatment. The cumulative incidence of continuous complete remission (CCR) at 2 years after r-cITP diagnosis was 9%. In this analysis, splenectomy was associated with a higher cumulative incidence of CCR (hazard ratio: 5.43, 95% confidence interval: 1.48-19.84, p = 7.8 × 10-4). In sum, children with cITP may be diagnosed with r-cITP at any time point of the follow-up and are at increased risk of IM and SLE. Second-line treatments seem to be effective for preventing grade 5 bleeding. Splenectomy may be considered to achieve CCR.

Impact of age at diagnosis, sex, and immunopathological manifestations in 886 patients with pediatric chronic immune thrombocytopenia.

Pediatric chronic immune thrombocytopenia (cITP) is a heterogeneous condition in terms of bleeding severity, second-line treatment use, association with clinical and/or biological immunopathological manifestations (IMs), and progression to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). No risk factors for these outcomes are known. Specifically, whether age at ITP diagnosis, sex, or IMs impact cITP outcomes is unknown. We report the outcomes of patients with pediatric cITP from the French nationwide prospective cohort OBS'CEREVANCE. We used multivariate analyses to investigate the effect of age at ITP diagnosis, sex, and IMs on cITP outcomes. We included 886 patients with a median (min-max) follow-up duration of 5.3 (1.0-29.3) years. We identified an age cutoff that dichotomized the risk of the outcomes and defined two risk groups: patients with ITP diagnosed <10 years (children) and ≥ 10 years (adolescents). Adolescents had a two to four-fold higher risk of grade ≥3 bleeding, second-line treatment use, clinical and biological IMs, and SLE diagnosis. Moreover, female sex and biological IMs were independently associated with higher risks of biological IMs and SLE diagnosis, second-line treatment use, and SLE diagnosis, respectively. The combination of these three risk factors defined outcome-specific risk groups. Finally, we showed that patients clustered in mild and severe phenotypes, more frequent in children and adolescents, respectively. In conclusion, we identified that age at ITP diagnosis, sex, and biological IMs impacted the long-term outcomes of pediatric cITP. We defined risk groups for each outcome, which will help clinical management and further studies.

Pathogenicity of Proteinase 3-Anti-Neutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibody in Granulomatosis With Polyangiitis: Implications as Biomarker and Future Therapies.

Granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) is a rare but serious necrotizing auto-immune vasculitis. GPA is mostly associated with the presence of Anti-Neutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibody (ANCA) targeting proteinase 3 (PR3-ANCA), a serine protease contained in neutrophil granules but also exposed at the membrane. PR3-ANCAs have a proven fundamental role in GPA: they bind neutrophils allowing their auto-immune activation responsible for vasculitis lesions. PR3-ANCAs bind neutrophil surface on the one hand by their Fab binding PR3 and on the other by their Fc binding Fc gamma receptors. Despite current therapies, GPA is still a serious disease with an important mortality and a high risk of relapse. Furthermore, although PR3-ANCAs are a consistent biomarker for GPA diagnosis, relapse management currently based on their level is inconsistent. Indeed, PR3-ANCA level is not correlated with disease activity in 25% of patients suggesting that not all PR3-ANCAs are pathogenic. Therefore, the development of new biomarkers to evaluate disease activity and predict relapse and new therapies is necessary. Understanding factors influencing PR3-ANCA pathogenicity, i.e. their potential to induce auto-immune activation of neutrophils, offers interesting perspectives in order to improve GPA management. Most relevant factors influencing PR3-ANCA pathogenicity are involved in their interaction with neutrophils: level of PR3 autoantigen at neutrophil surface, epitope of PR3 recognized by PR3-ANCA, isotype and glycosylation of PR3-ANCA. We detailed in this review the advances in understanding these factors influencing PR3-ANCA pathogenicity in order to use them as biomarkers and develop new therapies in GPA as part of a personalized approach.

4C3 Human Monoclonal Antibody: A Proof of Concept for Non-pathogenic Proteinase 3 Anti-neutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibodies in Granulomatosis With Polyangiitis.

Granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) is a severe autoimmune vasculitis associated with the presence of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) mainly targeting proteinase 3 (PR3), a neutrophilic serine proteinase. PR3-ANCA binding to membrane-bound PR3 on neutrophils induce their auto-immune activation responsible for vascular lesions. However, the correlation between PR3-ANCA level and disease activity remains inconsistent, suggesting the existence of non-pathogenic PR3-ANCA. In order to prove their existence, we immortalized B lymphocytes from blood samples of GPA patients in remission having persistent PR3-ANCA to isolate non-activating PR3-ANCA. We obtained for the first time a non-activating human IgG1κ anti-PR3 monoclonal antibody (mAb) named 4C3. This new mAb binds soluble PR3 with a high affinity and membrane-bound PR3 on an epitope close to the PR3 hydrophobic patch and in the vicinity of the active site. 4C3 is able to bind FcγRIIA and FcγRIIIB and has a G2F glycosylation profile on asparagine 297. 4C3 did not induce activation of neutrophils and could inhibit human polyclonal PR3-ANCA-induced activation suggesting that 4C3 is non-pathogenic. This characteristic relies on the recognized epitope on PR3 rather than to the Fc portion properties. The existence of non-pathogenic PR3-ANCA, which do not activate neutrophils, could explain the persistence of high PR3-ANCA levels in some GPA patients in remission and why PR3-ANCA would not predict relapse. Finally, these results offer promising perspectives particularly regarding the understanding of PR3-ANCA pathogenicity and the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies in GPA.