Dear All

Happy Durga Puja and Deepavali!

The highlights of this issue are a few important studies from India. Why are filarial-infected individuals protected against the development of RA or SLE? This question is addressed by Panda AK and Das BK (Panda AK et al., Lupus. 2016 Aug 3. pii: 0961203316662722). In this paper, 160 individuals, 40 in each arm of normal, filarial-infected cases, SLE and RA patients, from filarial-endemic areas, were enrolled. RA and SLE patients displayed significantly higher plasma IL-17A, IFN-α, and TNF-α levels compared to normal and infected individuals from the endemic area. Furthermore, IL-17A levels were significantly low in participants with filarial infection compared to endemic healthy controls (p<0.05). Interestingly, plasma IL-17A levels correlated inversely with circulating filarial antigen (CFA). The authors concluded that filarial infection was associated with low plasma IL-17A levels, a mechanism by which it possibly protects individuals in filarial-endemic areas from the development of autoimmune disorders such as RA and SLE.

Post-chikungunya arthropathy( CA) has been reported quite frequently in recent years, but without any proven treatment option. Ravindran and Alias carried out a randomized, open-label, 24-week study (Ravindran V et al, Clin Rheumatol. 2016 Oct 4.) that has shown the improved efficacy of the combination DMARDs in persistent arthritis cases–a very relevant and important study, due to the recent outbreak in North India.

A few important papers regarding spondyloarthropathy and lupus from SGPGI, Lucknow; vasculitis papers from PGI Chandigarh; and the Sjogren’s paper from CMC Vellore are worth a read.

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Regards

Editorial Team
IRA e-Newsletter