title: Prevalence of positive autoimmune biomarkers in the brucellosis patients.
abstract: Brucellosis is a chronic infectious disease with articular involvement. Discrimination between brucellosis and rheumatologic disorders is difficult in regions endemic for brucellosis. There are few studies about the rate of positive autoantibodies as rheumatologic biomarkers in brucellosis, and the prevalence is variable. In this study, the rheumatologic tests were studied in brucellosis patients. This cross sectional study was performed in two teaching hospitals in Tehran, Iran. Forty-nine patients with brucella infection and 42 healthy participants were enrolled in this study. Brucellosis was diagnosed on the basis of the clinical symptoms and positive serology for brucellosis. Rheumatic factor (RF) and antinuclear antibodies (ANA) were evaluated in all patients. Cyclic citrullinated peptides antibody (ACPA) and anti-double strand DNA (anti-dsDNA) were checked in all patients and control groups. Out of 49 patients, 15 (30.6 %) were RF positive and 4 (8.2 %) were ANA positive. Anti-dsDNA was concurrently positive with ANA in 1 patient (2 %) but ACPA titer was positive in 8 patients (16.3 %). None of the patients with positive autoantibody biomarkers fulfilled the criteria for rheumatologic disorders. The rate of positive RF in healthy people was significantly lower than patient group (2.4 vs. 30.6 %), but the positiveness rate of other biomarkers did not have significant difference in two groups. Sixty percent of the patients with positive RF and 75 % with positive ACPA had skeletal involvement (P < 0.05). Autoantibody biomarkers can be positive in brucellosis. Rheumatologists should be aware of brucellosis in patients with musculoskeletal involvement and positive autoantibody biomarkers in endemic regions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Imam Khomini Complex Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ahmadinejad
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Imam Khomini Complex Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abdollahi
authors.affiliation: Rheumatology Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. ziaee@tums.ac.ir.|Department of Pediatrics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. ziaee@tums.ac.ir.|Division of Pediatric Rheumatology, Children's Medical Center, No. 62 Dr. Gharib St., Keshavarz Blvd, Tehran, 14194, Islamic Republic of Iran. ziaee@tums.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Vahid
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4648-3573
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ziaee
authors.affiliation: Liver Transplantation Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Zeinab
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Domiraei
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, Imam Khomeini Complex Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyed-Reza
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Najafizadeh
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Imam Khomini Complex Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Sirus
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jafari
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ahmadinejad
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear / Q000097:blood; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002006:Brucellosis / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004247:DNA / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010456:Peptides, Cyclic / Q000276:immunology; D012216:Rheumatic Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology; D012217:Rheumatoid Factor / Q000097:blood; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear; D001323:Autoantibodies; D015415:Biomarkers; D010456:Peptides, Cyclic; C487763:cyclic citrullinated peptide; D004247:DNA; D012217:Rheumatoid Factor
keywords: Autoantibodies; Autoimmune; Biomarkers; Brucellosis; Methodology; Rheumatic diseases; Rheumatoid factor; Tissues or models