Development of Spondyloarthritis After COVID-19 in HLA-B27-Positive Monozygotic Twins: Case Reports With Single Cell Transcriptome Profiling.

A subset of spondyloarthritis (SpA) called 'reactive arthritis' is triggered by causal pathogens, usually bacteria related to venereal disease or gastrointestinal infection. During the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), there have been case reports about SpA after COVID-19, but the causality is still elusive. We described cases of 23-year-old monozygotic twins both diagnosed with SpA after COVID-19. The probable linkage between SpA and COVID-19 was elaborated with our cases as well as literature reviews. Of note, shared genetic traits by monozygotic twins, particularly HLA-B27 positivity, might have contributed to their susceptibility to COVID-19-induced SpA. Moreover, single-cell transcriptome analysis revealed that the transcriptomic profile of peripheral compartment of SpA after COVID-19 was distinctive from that of typical radiographic axial SpA as shown by differential expression of ribosomal protein S26 (RPS26) and small nucleolar RNA host gene 5 (SNHG5) in nearly all subsets of peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

Salivary ultrasonography and histopathologic evaluation of secondary Sjögren's syndrome in rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Novel modalities, such as salivary ultrasonography (SGUS) and shear wave elastography (SWE), have previously been introduced to evaluate Sjögren's syndrome (SS). However, in secondary SS (sSS), the diagnostic performance of SGUS and its relationship with clinicopathological characteristics have not yet been clearly defined. In this study, we aimed to investigate sSS in RA patients using SGUS and SWE and sought to determine its pathological correlations. Thirty-one RA patients who presented with sicca symptoms were included to be evaluated on SS, and were compared with 18 primary SS (pSS) patients. All subjects were assessed through SGUS, SWE, and conventional diagnostic approaches for SS, including minor salivary gland biopsy (MSGB). In SGUS evaluation, two separate scoring systems, suggested by Hocevar and OMERACT, were used. Among 31 RA patients with sicca symptoms, 19 (61.2%) were diagnosed as sSS. Similar to pSS, SGUS showed good diagnostic performance (sensitivity 68.4% and 78.9%, and specificity 91.7% and 75.0% for Hocever and OMERACT, respectively) in differentiating sSS from RA patients with simple sicca symptoms. The sSS and pSS patients exhibited significantly higher lymphoid infiltration areas in MSGB than RA patients without SS. Focus score and lymphoid infiltration areas correlated well with sonographic severity. Severity of fibrosis in MSGB showed better positive correlation with SWE than with SGUS. Similar to pSS, SGUS shows good diagnostic performance for sSS in RA patients. SWE reflects histopathologic chronicity of MSGB well in both pSS and sSS.