RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Antifibrillarin Antibodies Are Associated with Native North American Ethnicity and Poorer Survival in Systemic Sclerosis
JF The Journal of Rheumatology
JO J Rheumatol
FD The Journal of Rheumatology
SP 799
OP 805
DO 10.3899/jrheum.160574
VO 44
IS 6
A1 Carolina Mejia Otero
A1 Shervin Assassi
A1 Marie Hudson
A1 Maureen D. Mayes
A1 Rosa Estrada-Y-Martin
A1 Claudia Pedroza
A1 Tingting W. Mills
A1 Jennifer Walker
A1 Murray Baron
A1 Wendy Stevens
A1 Susanna M. Proudman
A1 Mandana Nikpour
A1 Sonal Mehra
A1 Mianbo Wang
A1 Marvin J. Fritzler
A1 Canadian Scleroderma Research Group
A1 Australian Scleroderma Cohort Study
A1 Genetics versus Environment in Scleroderma Outcome Study
YR 2017
UL http://www.jrheum.org/content/44/6/799.abstract
AB Objective. To examine the clinical correlates and survival in patients with antifibrillarin antibodies (AFA) in a large international study population consisting of well-characterized systemic sclerosis (SSc) cohorts from Canada, Australia, and the United States.Methods. Baseline clinical data from the prospective cohorts (Canadian Scleroderma Research Group, the Australian Scleroderma Cohort Study, and the American Genetics versus Environment in Scleroderma Outcome Study) were investigated. Clinical variables were harmonized and sera were tested for AFA using a commercially available SSc profile line immunoassay, regardless of the immunofluorescence staining pattern. Association of demographic and clinical features with AFA was investigated by logistic or linear regression. Further, a survival analysis was performed by Cox regression analysis.Results. A total of 1506 patients with SSc with complete serological profiles were included in the study. Fifty-two patients (3.5%) had antibodies detected against fibrillarin. Patients of African descent and Native North American ethnicity were more likely to be AFA-positive compared with other ethnicities. After adjustment for demographic factors, diffuse involvement, and intestinal bacterial overgrowth requiring antibiotics, gastrointestinal reflux disease showed a trend for association with AFA. Further, AFA positivity was associated with shorter survival independently of demographic factors and disease type (HR 1.76, 95% CI 1.11–2.79, p = 0.016).Conclusion. In this large multinational SSc cohort, AFA was associated with Native American ethnicity and was an independent predictor of mortality.