Artifactual Hypoglycaemia in Systemic Sclerosis and Raynaud's Phenomenon: A Clinical Case Report and Short Review.

Background. Artifactual hypoglycaemia, defined as a discrepancy between glucometer (capillary) and plasma glucose levels, may lead to overtreatment and costly investigations. It is not infrequently observed in patients with Raynaud's phenomenon due to vascular capillary distortion, yet this is clinically underappreciated. Case Report. We report a 76-year-old woman with systemic sclerosis and Raynaud's phenomenon, who presented with upper gastrointestinal bleeding and found to have concomitant persistent hypoglycaemia (1.0-2.7mmol/L) on a point-of-care glucometer in the absence hypoglycaemic symptoms. She underwent a 2-week hospital admission, repeated glucose monitoring, hydrocortisone replacement and dextrose infusions, with consequent hyperglycaemia on plasma measurements. Clinically, she did not satisfy Whipple's triad and radiological investigations failed to identify pituitary or pancreatic pathology. A 72-hour fast was negative for hyperinsulinaemia or exogenous insulin use and her sulphonylurea metabolite urinary screen was negative. Discussion. Treatment of low capillary blood glucose is usually met with clinical impetus to treat, even when hypoglycaemic symptoms are lacking. The correct diagnosis may have been achieved had there been an observation of her cold hands, scleroderma facies, and consideration of the likely distorted peripheral microvasculature. Early identification of this presumably rare clinical scenario may have prevented overtreatment, altered methods of monitoring, and avoided unnecessary investigations.

Identification and validation of novel serum markers for early diagnosis of endometriosis.

BACKGROUND: Non-invasive diagnosis of endometriosis is urgently required to prevent the long delay between the onset of symptoms and diagnosis. A biomarker that possesses both high sensitivity and specificity is greatly required. Here, we describe the use of a proteomic approach to identify potential novel endometrial antigens using sera from endometriosis patients and healthy controls, with evaluation of biomarkers for non-invasive diagnosis of endometriosis. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted to identify specific endometrial antigens using 1D and 2D western blots in women with early endometriosis (n = 17), advanced endometriosis (n = 23) and without endometriosis (n = 30). Five immunoreactive spots were analyzed using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight/mass spectrometry with MASCOT analysis. ELISAs were established for specific epitopes and autoantibody titres were estimated in an independent cohort comprising women with early endometriosis (n = 18), advanced endometriosis (n = 32) and without endometriosis (n = 27) for validation. RESULTS: The 2D western blot analysis resulted in the identification of three endometrial antigens, tropomyosin 3 (TPM3), stomatin-like protein 2 (SLP2) and tropomodulin 3 (TMOD3). Serum levels of antibodies against the epitopes from the immunodominant region of proteins TPM3, SLP2 and TMOD3 were significantly elevated in endometriosis patients when compared with controls. Sensitivity and specificity of serum anti-TPM3a-autoAb (61%, 93%), anti-TPM3c-autoAb (44%, 93%), anti-TPM3d-autoAb (78%, 89%), anti-SLP2a-autoAb (50%, 96%), anti-SLP2c-autoAb (61%, 93%), anti-TMOD3b-autoAb (61%, 96%), serum anti-TMOD3c-autoAb (78%, 93%) and anti-TMOD3d-autoAb (78%, 96%) were better than those of serum CA125 levels (21%, 89%) in the detection of early stages of endometriosis. CONCLUSIONS: Serum anti-TPM3a-autoAb, anti-TPM3c-autoAb, anti-TPM3d-autoAb, anti-SLP2a-autoAb, anti-SLP2c-autoAb, anti-TMOD3b-autoAb, anti-TMOD3c-autoAb and anti-TMOD3d-autoAb could be new markers for the early diagnosis of endometriosis.

Mapping the complement C1q binding site in Haemonchus contortus calreticulin.

Haemonchus contortus is an economically important gastrointestinal parasite of domestic animals. The parasite secretes calreticulin (CalR), a Ca(++) binding protein which modulates the host immune response. One way by which this protein acts is by inhibiting the classical complement pathway by binding to complement C1q protein. Understanding CalR-C1q interaction is important to develop methods to enhance host immune response. In this study, we have mapped the regions in the N-domain of CalR that facilitates C1q binding by generating small recombinant fragments of the domain and using synthetic peptides. In addition to already identified C1q binding motifs in human CalR, two additional sites in the N-domain of H. contortus were revealed with the following sequences-GKYYDDAKRD and the AKFPKKFT. The significance of multiple C1q binding motifs in CalR is discussed in relation to host-parasite interactions.

Multiple endometrial antigens are targeted in autoimmune endometriosis.

Endometriosis is defined as the growth of endometrial glands and stroma in ectopic locations. Its aetiology is multifactorial, but autoimmunity has been shown to play a role in its onset and development. The present study aimed to investigate the presence of both IgG and IgM anti-endometrial antibodies in sera of endometriosis patients in comparison with age-matched controls, and to also investigate the cognate endometrial proteins involved. Sera from these groups were screened by western blot and immunohistochemistry. Thirteen out of the 40 sera tested were positive for IgG isotype, and 10/27 IgG negative patients were positive for IgM isotype. These findings indicate that endometrial antibodies of IgG and IgM classes could be detected in almost 60% of endometriosis patients. Of the various identified endometrial antigens, 30 and 45 kDa antigens were immunodominant in both IgG and IgM positive endometriosis patients. With immunohistochemistry, positive sera showed reactivity in luminal epithelium, glandular epithelium and stroma. These anti-endometrial antibodies might be partially responsible for failure of implantation leading to infertility. Identification of specific targets would be a help in understanding the pathophysiology of endometriosis, and would also help in setting up a non-invasive test for the diagnosis of endometriosis.