The autoimmune tautology: an in silico approach

Autoimmune Disease Classification Based on PubMed Text Mining

Autoimmune diseases (AIDs) are often co-associated, and about 25% of patients with one AID tend to develop other comorbid AIDs. Here, we employ the power of datamining to predict the comorbidity of AIDs based on their normalized co-citation in PubMed. First, we validate our technique in a test dataset using earlier-reported comorbidities of seven knowns AIDs. Notably, the prediction correlates well with comorbidity (R = 0.91) and validates our methodology. Then, we predict the association of 100 AIDs and classify them using principal component analysis. Our results are helpful in classifying AIDs into one of the following systems: (1) gastrointestinal, (2) neuronal, (3) eye, (4) cutaneous, (5) musculoskeletal, (6) kidneys and lungs, (7) cardiovascular, (8) hematopoietic, (9) endocrine, and (10) multiple. Our classification agrees with experimentally based taxonomy and ranks AID according to affected systems and gender. Some AIDs are unclassified and do not associate well with other AIDs. Interestingly, Alzheimer’s disease correlates well with other AIDs such as multiple sclerosis. Finally, our results generate a network classification of autoimmune diseases based on PubMed text mining and help map this medical universe. Our results are expected to assist healthcare workers in diagnosing comorbidity in patients with an autoimmune disease, and to help researchers in identifying common genetic, environmental, and autoimmune mechanisms.

Celiac disease as a model for the evolution of multifactorial disease in humans

Celiac disease (CD) is a multifactorial chronic inflammatory condition that results in injury of the mucosal lining of the small intestine upon ingestion of wheat gluten and related proteins from barley and rye. Although the exact mechanisms leading to CD are not fully understood, the genetic basis of CD has been relatively well characterized. In this review we briefly review the history of discovery, clinical presentation, pathophysiology, and current understanding of the genetics underlying CD risk. Then, we discuss what is known about the current distribution and evolutionary history of genes underlying CD risk in light of other evolutionary models of disease. Specifically, we conclude that the set of loci underlying CD risk did not cohesively evolve as a response to a single past selection event such as the development of agriculture. Rather, deterministic and stochastic evolutionary processes have both contributed to the present distribution of variation in CD risk loci. Selection has shaped some components of this network, but this selection appears to have occurred at different points in the past. Other parts of the CD risk network have likely arisen due to stochastic processes such as genetic drift.

The coexistence of antiphospholipid syndrome and systemic lupus erythematosus in Colombians

OBJECTIVES

To examine the prevalence and associated factors related to the coexistence of antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in a cohort of Colombian patients with SLE, and to discuss the coexistence of APS with other autoimmune diseases (ADs).

METHOD

A total of 376 patients with SLE were assessed for the presence of the following: 1) confirmed APS; 2) positivity for antiphospholipid (aPL) antibodies without a prior thromboembolic nor obstetric event; and 3) SLE patients without APS nor positivity for aPL antibodies. Comparisons between groups 1 and 3 were evaluated by bivariate and multivariate analysis.

RESULTS

Although the prevalence of aPL antibodies was 54%, APS was present in just 9.3% of SLE patients. In our series, besides cardiovascular disease (AOR 3.38, 95% CI 1.11-10.96, p = 0.035), pulmonary involvement (AOR 5.06, 95% CI 1.56-16.74, p = 0.007) and positivity for rheumatoid factor (AOR 4.68, 95%IC 1.63-14.98, p = 0.006) were factors significantly associated with APS-SLE. APS also may coexist with rheumatoid arthritis, Sjögren's syndrome, autoimmune thyroid diseases, systemic sclerosis, systemic vasculitis, dermatopolymyositis, primary biliary cirrhosis and autoimmune hepatitis.

CONCLUSIONS

APS is a systemic AD that may coexist with other ADs, the most common being SLE. Awareness of this polyautoimmunity should be addressed promptly to establish strategies for controlling modifiable risk factors in those patients.

Alzheimer's disease and HLA-A2: linking neurodegenerative to immune processes through an in silico approach

There is a controversial relationship between HLA-A2 and Alzheimer's disease (AD). It has been suggested a modifier effect on the risk that depends on genetic loadings. Thus, the aims of this study were to evaluate this relationship and to reveal genes associated with both concepts the HLA-A gene and AD. Consequently, we did first a classical systematic review and a meta-analysis of case-control studies. Next, by means of an in silico approach, we used experimental knowledge of protein-protein interactions to evaluate the top ranked genes shared by both concepts, previously found through text mining. The meta-analysis did not show a significant pooled OR (1.11, 95% CI: 0.98 to 1.24 in Caucasians), in spite of the fact that four of the included studies had a significant OR > 1 and none of them a significant OR < 1. In contrast, the in silico approach retrieved nonrandomly shared genes by both concepts (P = 0.02), which additionally encode truly interacting proteins. The network of proteins encoded by APP, ICAM-1, ITGB2, ITGAL, SELP, SELL, IL2, IL1B, CD4, and CD8A linked immune to neurodegenerative processes and highlighted the potential roles in AD pathogenesis of endothelial regulation, infectious diseases, specific antigen presentation, and HLA-A2 in maintaining synapses.