Renal involvement in Chinese patients with Behcet's disease: a report of 16 cases

A patient with Behcet's disease and IgA nephropathy in China

BACKGROUND

Behcet's disease (BD) is an inflammatory disorder of unknown cause that is characterized by recurrent oral aphthous ulcers, genital ulcers, uveitis, and skin lesions. Local vasculitis can cause damage to the visceral system, but it is rare in kidney patients, especially those with IgA nephropathy (IgAN). In China, a small number of related cases have been reported. Here we present a case of co-occurrence of BD and IgAN.

CASE PRESENTATION

An 18-year-old female who presented with a history of recurrent oral ulcers was found ten years ago. Four years later, the patient presented with reddish nodules on the skin of both lower limbs and then presented with vulvar ulcers. This patient was clinically diagnosed with Behcet's disease after left calf skin biopsy and presented severe proteinuria and hematuria during this period. IgAN was diagnosed after percutaneous renal biopsy. The patient was treated with hormonal, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, kidney protective, and protein-lowering urine agents. After 3 years of follow-up, the patient reappears oral ulcers, reddish nodules on the skin of both lower limbs and renal dysfunction.

CONCLUSIONS

BD is less common in China and is clinically prone to missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis. BD with IgAN is rarer. We should regularly pay attention to the routine urine and renal function of BD patients for early detection and treatment and to prevent further progression of the disease.

Behcet's disease presenting as malignant hypertension induced by renovascular hypertension

Hypertension is an uncommon manifestation of Behcet's disease, which is also an uncommon cause of renovascular hypertension. We herein report a case of malignant hypertension associated with unilateral renal artery stenosis due to vascular Behcet's disease. A 19-year-old man, who had no significant medical history, was referred to ophthalmology at our hospital because he was suspected to have uveitis and Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome. In addition to poor eyesight, he had been aware of a fever, loss of appetite, and weight loss for a month. He was admitted with markedly elevated blood pressure (222/140 mmHg), hypertensive retinopathy, and acute kidney injury, who was diagnosed with malignant hypertension. Laboratory findings showed high plasma renin activity and plasma aldosterone concentration, hypokalemia, and elevated inflammatory response. Computed tomography showed an atrophic right kidney and a compensatorily enlarged left kidney. Renal computed tomography angiography revealed severe and diffuse stenosis of the right renal artery, and stenosis of the ostium of celiac artery. Since he was suspected to have uveitis and his inflammatory responses were elevated on admission, we listed Behcet's disease as a differential diagnosis. Medical interview and examination focusing on Behcet's disease revealed that the patient had recurrent oral aphthous lesions and folliculitis, and a positive pathergy test, which led to the patient being diagnosed with vascular Behcet's disease. After admission, his blood pressure was well controlled with multiple antihypertensive drugs including an angiotensin receptor/neprilysin inhibitor, and his oral aphthous lesions and skin lesion were improved with colchicine. When young men who are at a higher risk for vascular Behcet's disease show renovascular hypertension with an elevated inflammatory reaction, vascular Behcet's disease should be considered as a differential diagnosis.

Hypertension as a prominent manifestation secondary to renal artery lesions in pediatric Behcet's disease

OBJECTIVE

Hypertension caused by vascular Behcet's disease (BD) is an important prognostic factor of paediatric BD. However, much less is known about its clinical features. The objective of this study was to investigate the clinical characteristics of paediatric vascular BD complicated by hypertension.

METHODS

A retrospective study was carried out in paediatric BD patients complicated by hypertension treated in the Children's Hospital Capital Institute of Paediatrics from Jan 2009 to Dec 2022.

RESULTS

Of 65 BD patients, 6 (9.2%) were complicated by hypertension, 5 patients were female, and the median ages of onset and diagnosis were 9.8 years and 11.3 years, respectively. Three patients were found to have cardiac involvement and hypertensive retinopathy secondary to hypertension. Five of the 6 patients with hypertension had right renal artery involvement, and all of them were treated with glucocorticoids and immunosuppressants. Four patients were treated with biological agents. One patient with severe renal artery stenosis underwent unsuccessful vascular interventional therapy. After 3-6 years of follow-up, five patients were found to have renal atrophy, and one patient was at stable condition.

CONCLUSION

Hypertension in paediatric BD is mainly caused by renal artery involvement. Early recognition and treatment of vascular involvement in BD is important to prevent poor prognosis.

Autoinflammatory diseases and the kidney

The kidney represents an important target of systemic inflammation. Its involvement in monogenic and multifactorial autoinflammatory diseases (AIDs) vary from peculiar and relatively frequent manifestations to some rare but severe features that may end up requiring transplantation. The pathogenetic background is also very heterogeneous ranging from amyloidosis to non-amyloid related damage rooted in inflammasome activation. Kidney involvement in monogenic and polygenic AIDs may present as renal amyloidosis, IgA nephropathy, and more rarely as various forms of glomerulonephritis (GN), namely segmental glomerulosclerosis, collapsing glomerulopathy, fibrillar, or membranoproliferative GN. Vascular disorders such as thrombosis or renal aneurysms and pseudoaneurysms may be encountered in patients with Behcet's disease. Patients with AIDs should be routinely assessed for renal involvement. Screening with urinalysis, serum creatinine, 24-h urinary protein, microhematuria, and imaging studies should be carried out for early diagnosis. Awareness of drug-induced nephrotoxicity, drug-drug interactions as well as addressing the issue of proper renal adjustment of drug doses deserve a special mention and should always be considered when dealing with patients affected by AIDs. Finally, we will explore the role of IL-1 inhibitors in AIDs patients with renal involvement. Targeting IL-1 may indeed have the potential to successfully manage kidney disease and improve long-term prognosis of AIDs patients.

Behçet's disease presenting with massive hemoptysis related to bronchovascular fistula: A case report

A 37-year-old male patient was admitted to our hospital with recurrent hemoptysis, 50 mL per day. Thoracic computed tomography showed no pathology responsible for hemoptysis. Bronchoscopy revealed mucosal infiltrations and 2 to 3-mm blotch in the lateral wall of the right lower lobe. After punch biopsy of the suspected area, massive bleeding occurred. Right lower bilobectomy was performed urgently. A bronchovascular fistula was noticed at the specimen. Pathological examination result was compatible with clinically suspected Behçet"s disease. The patient was given high-dose steroid and cyclophosphamide treatment and received azathioprine maintenance treatment for 18 months. He has been symptom-free for three-year follow-up.

Behçet's Disease with Extremely High Levels of Urinary β2-Microglobulin after Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug Treatment

Behçet's disease is an inflammatory disease which manifests itself as various symptoms, such as uveitis, oral and genital aphthae, erythema nodosa, gastro-intestinal ulcerations and encephalopathy. Among the manifestations, renal dysfunction is reported in some percentage of the patients with this disorder. We experienced a middle-aged male with Behçet's disease who showed an extremely high level of urinary β2-microglulin, which is one of the markers of renal dysfunction, despite normal serum creatinine levels. The patient was on non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) therapy for 7 weeks, and this could have affected his renal dysfunction. The present report suggests that renal injury should not be underestimated in patients with Behçet's disease, especially in patients using NSAIDs.

Co-occurrence of Behçet disease with Ig A vasculitis revealed by ophtalmic examination: A case report

Introduction

Renal involvment of Behçet disease is not usual and Ig A vasculitis complicated by Behçet disease is extremely rare.

Case presentation

We report a case of Henoch Scholein purpura and nephritis associated with Behçet disease revealed by ophthalmic examination.

Clinical discussion

Recurrent oral ulcer is not a manifestation of Ig A vasculitis which doesn't affect large or middle sized arteries. If the patient had'nt been referred to our department for ophthalmic examination, we may have failed to make the diagnosis and treat coexisting Behçet disease.

Conclusion

The link of HSP and BD has yet to be fully understood, and more researchisdefinitelyneeded.

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The renal involvement is not verycommon in Behçet disease.

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Studies have shown a correlation between certain human leukocyte antigens (HLA) and renal involvment in Behçet disease.

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Ig A vasculitis complicated by Behçet disease is extremely rare.

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The link of HSP and BD has yet to be fully understood, and more researchisdefinitelyneeded.

Comprehensive analysis of immunoglobulin and clinical variables identifies functional linkages and diagnostic indicators associated with Behcet's disease patients receiving immunomodulatory treatment

BACKGROUND

Behcet's disease (BD) is a relapsing systemic vascular autoimmune/inflammatory disease. Despite much effort to investigate BD, there are virtually no unique laboratory markers identified to help in the diagnosis of BD, and the pathogenesis is largely unknown. The aim of this work is to explore interactions between different clinical variables by correlation analysis to determine associations between the functional linkages of different paired variables and potential diagnostic biomarkers of BD.

METHODS

We measured the immunoglobulin proteome (IgG, IgG1-4, IgA, IgA1-2) and 29 clinical variables in 66 healthy controls and 63 patients with BD. We performed a comprehensive clinical variable linkage analysis and defined the physiological, pathological and pharmacological linkages based on the correlations of all variables in healthy controls and BD patients without and with immunomodulatory therapy. We further calculated relative changes between variables derived from comprehensive linkage analysis for better indications in the clinic. The potential indicators were validated in a validation set with 76 patients with BD, 30 healthy controls, 18 patients with Takayasu arteritis and 18 patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis.

RESULTS

In this study, the variables identified were found to act in synergy rather than alone in BD patients under physiological, pathological and pharmacological conditions. Immunity and inflammation can be suppressed by corticosteroids and immunosuppressants, and integrative analysis of granulocytes, platelets and related variables is likely to provide a more comprehensive understanding of disease activity, thrombotic potential and ultimately potential tissue damage. We determined that total protein/mean corpuscular hemoglobin and total protein/mean corpuscular hemoglobin levels, total protein/mean corpuscular volume, and plateletcrit/monocyte counts were significantly increased in BD compared with controls (P < 0.05, in both the discovery and validation sets), which helped in distinguishing BD patients from healthy and vasculitis controls. Chronic anemia in BD combined with increased total protein contributed to higher levels of these biomarkers, and the interactions between platelets and monocytes may be linked to vascular involvement.

CONCLUSIONS

All these results demonstrate the utility of our approach in elucidating the pathogenesis and in identifying novel biomarkers for autoimmune diseases in the future.

Validation of the 2007 kidney disease outcomes quality initiative clinical practice guideline for the diagnosis of diabetic nephropathy and nondiabetic renal disease in Chinese patients

AIMS

Diabetes mellitus (DM) has overtaken infection and immunological factors as the most common cause of end-stage renal disease. The 2007 Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (KDOQI) guideline is a widely accepted guideline for the clinical diagnosis of diabetic nephropathy (DN) and non-diabetic renal disease (NDRD). Our study sought to verify its diagnostic ability in the Chinese population.

METHODS

We included 773 patients with DM who underwent a renal biopsy at the Chinese PLA General Hospital from 2007 to 2016. All patients were divided into three groups according to their pathological findings: isolated DN, isolated NDRD, and DN combined with NDRD.

RESULTS

Good sensitivity and poor specificity were found for the prediction of NDRD in the Chinese population. Rapidly decreasing estimated glomerular filtration rate, systemic disease, refractory hypertension, and the existence of "grey area" patients may have contributed to the poor diagnostic ability.

CONCLUSIONS

The diagnostic ability of the 2007 KDOQI guideline for DN and NDRD was unsatisfactory. The high sensitivity and low specificity of the guideline made it more suitable as screening criteria rather than as diagnostic criteria.

A novel case of renal pathergy reaction in a Behçet's disease patient complicated by IgA vasculitis

BACKGROUND

A pathergy reaction is defined as a hyperreactivity of the skin in response to minimal trauma, which is important in the diagnosis of Behçet's disease (BD). However, a pathergy reaction may not be restricted to the skin, and little is known about whether an invasive medical procedure can induce the reaction. Here we present a pathergy reaction induced by renal biopsy, an invasive procedure.

CASE PRESENTATION

A 46-year-old man who was diagnosed with IgA vasculitis (IgAV) at the age of 38 was treated with prednisolone and mizoribine. However, complications such as common carotid arteritis or recurrent oral ulcer suggested the possibility of another pathophysiology. Later, increasing urine protein developed, suggesting disease aggravation. However, renal biopsy showed arteriosclerotic changes caused mainly by hypertension, negating exacerbation. After renal biopsy, his renal dysfunction and body temperature fluctuated, and detailed examinations revealed recurrent oral and genital ulcers and a folliculitis-like rash on his scrotum. Later, he complained of myodesopsia caused by hemorrhage in the ocular fundus due to occlusive vasculitis. Complete BD was diagnosed after development of the symptoms, and he was treated with prednisolone and colchicine.

CONCLUSION

Co-occurrence of BD with IgAV is very rare and may be associated with immune disorders. Interestingly, a renal biopsy revealed BD, which was masked by the presence of IgAV, and elucidated the etiology of the unexplainable symptoms. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of renal pathergy. This case enlightens clinicians to the fact that not only a needle stimulation but also an invasive procedure can cause a pathergy reaction.

Novel myokine: irisin may be an independent predictor for subclinic atherosclerosis in Behçet's disease

Behçet's disease (BD) is a vasculitic and inflammatory disease causing endothelial dysfunction. Irisin is a metabolic hormone related to insulin resistance and endothelial functions. In this study, we investigated the relationship between irisin and carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT), which is a marker of atherosclerosis in patients with BD. 48 patients with BD and 50 healthy individuals were enrolled in the study. Disease severity was evaluated by BD current activity form. Irisin, glucose, insulin, C reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and lipid panel were examined in all patients. Homeostasis Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) was used to calculate insulin resistance. A simple and inexpensive cIMT test was used as indicator of atherosclerosis. cIMT was 0.62 (0.45-1.05) mm in the patients, while it was 0.38 (0.25-0.65) mm in the control group (p < 0.001). Irisin value was found to be 197.3 (24.8-834.2) ng/mL in the control group, while it was 85.4 (4.7-471.1) ng/mL in the patient group (p = 0.007). There was a negative correlation between irisin level and cIMT (r = -0.511, p < 0.001) and HOMA-IR (r = -0.371, p = 0.009). Decreased irisin levels (OR 0.996, 95% CI 0.992 to 1.000, p = 0.041), male gender (OR 7.634, 95% CI 1.415 to 41.191, p = 0.018), and HOMA-IR (OR 2.596, 95% CI 1.451 to 4.643, p = 0.001) are independent risk factors for cIMT in patients with BD. We detected a very strong relationship between cIMT, which is an indicator of subclinical atherosclerosis, and decreased irisin levels in patients with BD. BD is characterized by chronic inflammation, and low serum irisin levels in BD may be related to atherosclerosis.

Novel myokine: irisin may be an independent predictor for subclinic atherosclerosis in Behçet's disease

Behçet's disease (BD) is a vasculitic and inflammatory disease causing endothelial dysfunction. Irisin is a metabolic hormone related to insulin resistance and endothelial functions. In this study, we investigated the relationship between irisin and carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT), which is a marker of atherosclerosis in patients with BD. 48 patients with BD and 50 healthy individuals were enrolled in the study. Disease severity was evaluated by BD current activity form. Irisin, glucose, insulin, C reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and lipid panel were examined in all patients. Homeostasis Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) was used to calculate insulin resistance. A simple and inexpensive cIMT test was used as indicator of atherosclerosis. cIMT was 0.62 (0.45-1.05) mm in the patients, while it was 0.38 (0.25-0.65) mm in the control group (p < 0.001). Irisin value was found to be 197.3 (24.8-834.2) ng/mL in the control group, while it was 85.4 (4.7-471.1) ng/mL in the patient group (p = 0.007). There was a negative correlation between irisin level and cIMT (r = -0.511, p < 0.001) and HOMA-IR (r = -0.371, p = 0.009). Decreased irisin levels (OR 0.996, 95% CI 0.992 to 1.000, p = 0.041), male gender (OR 7.634, 95% CI 1.415 to 41.191, p = 0.018), and HOMA-IR (OR 2.596, 95% CI 1.451 to 4.643, p = 0.001) are independent risk factors for cIMT in patients with BD. We detected a very strong relationship between cIMT, which is an indicator of subclinical atherosclerosis, and decreased irisin levels in patients with BD. BD is characterized by chronic inflammation, and low serum irisin levels in BD may be related to atherosclerosis.