Neuromyelitis optica-IgG+ optic neuritis associated with celiac disease and dysgammaglobulinemia: a role for tacrolimus?

Ocular manifestations in celiac disease: an overview

PURPOSE

To review and highlight the ocular manifestations associated with celiac disease (CD) and presentation of their pathogenetic mechanisms.

METHODS

A thorough review of the literature was performed using PubMed to identify articles about serrated polyposis syndrome. The search was performed using the search string: ("celiac disease" OR "coeliac disease") AND ("ocular manifestations" OR "eye" OR "orbitopathy" OR "uveitis" OR "neuro-ophthalmic manifestations"). Only articles in English were reviewed.

RESULTS

Several ocular symptoms and disorders have been associated with CD and are a result of defective intestinal absorption and immunological mechanisms. These include nyctalopia, dry eye, cataract, thyroid-associated orbitopathy, uveitis, central retinal vein occlusion and neuro-ophthalmic manifestations. In addition, CD-related ocular disease may represent the first manifestation of CD.

CONCLUSION

CD may hold accountable for the development of ocular diseases of obscure etiology.

Autoimmune diseases associated with Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorders: A literature review

INTRODUCTION

Neuromyelitis Optica (NMO) is an autoimmune inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS) which predominantly involves optic nerves and spinal cord. Since the introduction of Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorders (NMOSD) as a separate entity, there have been many reports on its association with other disorders including systemic and organ-specific autoimmune diseases. Here, we reviewed other immune-mediated diseases associated with NMOSD and tried to categorize them.

METHODS

The present review was conducted using the PUBMED database based on papers from 1976 (i.e., since the first NMO comorbidity with SLE was reported) to 2017. We included all articles published in English. The keywords utilized included Neuromyelitis optica, Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorders, Devic's disease, in combination with comorbidity or comorbidities.

RESULTS

Diseases with immune-based pathogenesis are the most frequently reported co-morbidities associated with NMOSD, most of which are antibody-mediated diseases. According to literature, Sjogren's Syndrome (SS) and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) are the most frequently reported diseases associated with NMOSD among systemic autoimmune diseases. Further, myasthenia gravis in neurological and autoimmune thyroid diseases in non-neurological organ-specific autoimmune diseases are the most reported comorbidities associated with NMOSD in the literature.

CONCLUSIONS

NMOSD may be associated with a variety of different types of autoimmune diseases. Therefore, systemic or laboratory signs which are not typical for NMOSD should be properly investigated to exclude other associated comorbidities. These comorbidities may affect the treatment strategy and may improve the patients' care and management.

Celiac Disease Presenting with Peripheral Neuropathy in Children: A Case Report

Background: Clinically relevant neurological manifestations in children with celiac disease (CD) are unusual, especially when they are considered as signs of the onset of the disease. In this paper, a case of Guillain-Barrè syndrome (GBS) as the first manifestation of CD in a 23-month-old child is reported. Case presentation: We describe a case of CD onset with peripheral neuropathy in a 23-month-old Bulgarian boy presenting with a sudden refusal to walk and absence of deep tendon reflexes in both lower limbs. Neurological symptoms were preceded by two months of gastrointestinal symptoms such as vomiting, abdominal distention, and clear signs of malnutrition and weight loss. When we evaluated the child six months after the onset of the symptoms, clinical and laboratory findings showed clear signs of peripheral neuropathy associated with malnutrition. Serum deamidated gliadin and tissue transglutaminase antibodies were therefore measured. The anti-gliadin levels were more than sixteen times higher than normal and the IgA anti-transglutaminase levels were four times higher than normal. Anti-endomysium antibodies were positive, and human leukocyte antigens (HLA) II typing confirmed a genetic predisposition to CD (DQ2 positive and DQ8 negative). Given the association between the clinical evidence of the disease and the results of the celiac screening tests, a diagnosis of CD was made without biopsy confirmation of the enteropathy. The child began a restricted gluten-free diet that led to complete recovery of the peripheral neuropathy, walking, reflexes, and overall improvement after three months on the diet. Conclusion: Our case underlines the rare but possible associations between CD and peripheral neuropathy in children as an onset symptom, even in the absence of gastrointestinal manifestations, thus suggesting that CD should always be considered in the differential diagnosis of peripheral neuropathy in children. A good knowledge of the extra-intestinal manifestations of CD is essential for the rapid introduction of a gluten-free diet that could be useful for the resolution of the neurological symptoms.

Common and Rare Manifestations of Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder

The discovery of a highly specific biomarker of neuromyelitis optica (NMO)-the anti-aquaporin-4 (AQP4) antibody-has opened new paths to understanding disease pathogenesis and afforded a way to confirm the diagnosis in clinical practice. An important consequence of the discovery is the broadening of the spectrum of syndromes seen in the context of AQP4 autoimmunity. These syndromes have been subsumed under the rubric of NMO spectrum disorder (NMOSD). The current classification recognizes not only optic neuritis and myelitis as core syndromes of NMOSD but also cerebral, diencephalic, brainstem, and area postrema syndromes. These neurologic syndromes are the focus of our review. AQP4 is also expressed in many organs outside of the central nervous system, and this may explain some of the unusual, non-neurologic features that have been occasionally reported in NMOSD. Our review catalogues non-neurologic manifestations seen in NMOSD and concludes with a discussion of frequently associated autoimmune and neoplastic comorbidities of NMOSD.

Transverse Myelitis as Manifestation of Celiac Disease in a Toddler

We present a 17-month-old girl with rapidly progressive unwillingness to sit, stand, play, and walk. Furthermore, she lacked appetite, vomited, lost weight, and had an iron deficiency. Physical examination revealed a cachectic, irritable girl with a distended abdomen, dystrophic legs with paraparesis, disturbed sensibility, and areflexia. An MRI scan revealed abnormal high signal intensity on T2-weighted images in the cord on the thoracic level, without cerebral abnormalities, indicating transverse myelitis (TM). Laboratory investigations revealed elevated immunoglobulin A antibodies against gliadin (1980.0 kU/L; normal, 0-10.1 kU/L) and tissue transglutaminase (110.0 kU/L; normal, 0-10.1 kU/L). Gastroscopy revealed villous atrophy in the duodenal biopsies and lymphocytic gastritis according to Marsh IIIb, compatible with celiac disease (CD). After the start of a gluten free diet and methylprednisolone, she recovered completely. To our knowledge, this is the first pediatric case of TM as manifestation of CD. We suggest that all children with TM or other neurologic manifestations of unknown origin should be screened for CD.

Serological prevalence of celiac disease in Brazilian population of multiple sclerosis, neuromyelitis optica and myelitis

PURPOSE

Comorbidity of celiac disease with demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system has been reported since the 1960s. The objective of this study was to determine the serological prevalence of celiac disease in the largest series of patients diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, neuromyelitis optica, or myelitis.

METHODS

A prevalence study was conducted with patients evaluated at Sarah Network of Rehabilitation Hospitals between March 2012 and September 2013. They were previously diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, neuromyelitis optica, or idiopathic myelitis. The serum levels of antibodies against tissue transglutaminase and endomysium were assessed.

RESULTS

Of the 379 patients evaluated, 249 (65.70%) were diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, 37 (9.56%) with neuromyelitis optica, and 96 (24.54%) with idiopathic myelitis. Two patients (0.53%), one with multiple sclerosis and other with myelitis, tested positive for both antibodies.

CONCLUSION

Our study do not confirm the relationship between celiac serological antibodies with multiple sclerosis, neuromyelitis optica and inflammatory myelitis of an unknown etiology.

Autoimmune AQP4 channelopathies and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders

Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) spectrum disorders (SD) represent an evolving group of central nervous system (CNS)-inflammatory autoimmune demyelinating diseases unified by a pathogenic autoantibody specific for the aquaporin-4 (AQP4) water channel. It was historically misdiagnosed as multiple sclerosis (MS), which lacks a distinguishing biomarker. The discovery of AQP4-IgG moved the focus of CNS demyelinating disease research from emphasis on the oligodendrocyte and myelin to the astrocyte. NMO is recognized today as a relapsing disease, extending beyond the optic nerves and spinal cord to include brain (especially in children) and skeletal muscle. Brain magnetic resonance imaging abnormalities, identifiable in 60% of patients at the second attack, are consistent with MS in 10% of cases. NMOSD-typical lesions (another 10%) occur in AQP4-enriched regions: circumventricular organs (causing intractable nausea and vomiting) and the diencephalon (causing sleep disorders, endocrinopathies, and syndrome of inappropriate antidiuresis). Advances in understanding the immunobiology of AQP4 autoimmunity have necessitated continuing revision of NMOSD clinical diagnostic criteria. Assays that selectively detect pathogenic AQP4-IgG targeting extracellular epitopes of AQP4 are promising prognostically. When referring to AQP4 autoimmunity, we suggest substituting the term "autoimmune aquaporin-4 channelopathy" for the term "NMO spectrum disorders." Randomized clinical trials are currently assessing the efficacy and safety of newer immunotherapies. Increasing therapeutic options based on understanding the molecular pathogenesis is anticipated to improve the outcome for patients with AQP4 channelopathy.

A review of the current literature and a guide to the early diagnosis of autoimmune disorders associated with neuromyelitis optica

Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is an immune-mediated neurological disorder characterised by recurrent episodes of optic neuritis and longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis. A serum biomarker, aquaporin-4 IgG, the autoantibody against aquaporin-4 water channel, has been specifically associated with NMO and has assisted early recognition and prediction of relapses. Less commonly, a monophasic course, associated with antibodies to myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein has been reported. Specific diagnostic criteria have been defined; however, some cases that do not fulfil these criteria (but are nevertheless associated with aquaporin-4 IgG) are classified as NMO spectrum disorder and follow the same relapsing course. An ever-growing list of autoimmune disorders, both organ-specific and non-organ-specific, have been associated in up to 20-30% of patients with NMO. These disorders, which may become symptomatic before or after the development of NMO, are often diagnosed long after the diagnosis of NMO, as symptoms may be wrongly attributed to NMO, its residual effects or medication side effects. In addition, autoantibodies can be found in patients with NMO without coexisting disease (up to 40% in some series) and maybe suggestive of a heightened humoral immune response. We present a comprehensive review of the current literature on autoimmune disorders co-existing with NMO and identified 22 autoimmune conditions (myasthenia gravis, coeliac disease, ulcerative colitis, sclerosing cholangitis, systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, antiphospholipid antibody syndrome, Sjogren's syndrome, autoimmune hypothyroidism, immune thrombocytopenic purpura, pernicious anaemia, narcolepsy, pemphigus foliaceus, alopecia areata, psoriasis, scleroderma, dermatitis herpetiformis, polymyositis, chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, paraneoplastic disorders, insulin dependent diabetes mellitus and autoimmune encephalitis).

Antibody response against gastrointestinal antigens in demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system

BACKGROUND

Antibodies against gastrointestinal antigens may indicate altered microbiota and immune responses in the gut. Recent experimental data suggest a connection between gastrointestinal immune responses and CNS autoimmunity.

METHODS

Antibodies against gliadin, tissue transglutaminase (tTG), intrinsic factor (IF), parietal cells (PC) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (ASCA) were screened in the sera of 45 patients with AQP4-seropositive neuromyelitis optica (NMO) and NMO spectrum diseases (NMO/NMO-SD), 17 patients with AQP4-seronegative NMO, 85 patients with clinically definite multiple sclerosis (MS), and 48 healthy controls (HC).

RESULTS

Thirty-seven percentages of patients with AQP4-seropositive NMO/NMO-SD and 28% of patients with MS had at least one particular antibody in contrast to 8% of HC (P < 0.01, respectively). Antibodies were most common (46%) in AQP4-seropositive myelitis (P = 0.01 versus HS, P = 0.05 versus MS). Anti-gliadin and ASCA were more frequent in the AQP4-seropositive NMO-spectrum compared to controls (P = 0.01 and P < 0.05, respectively).

CONCLUSION

Antibody responses against gastrointestinal antigens are common in MS and AQP4-seropositive NMO/NMO-SD, especially in longitudinally extensive myelitis.

[Gluten-related disorders and demyelinating diseases]

Gluten-related disorders are a spectrum of systemic immune mediated conditions that occur at any age in genetically susceptible individuals upon ingesting gluten. Celiac disease and gluten sensitivity are the most important conditions of the spectrum. They may be associated with other autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica. Treatment with a gluten-free diet can provide considerable benefits to the patients having both a gluten-related disorder and one of these 2 demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system.