Are the autoimmune/inflammatory syndrome induced by adjuvants (ASIA) and the undifferentiated connective tissue disease (UCTD) related to each other? A case-control study of environmental exposures

• Published in: Immunologic research Vol. 65; no. 1; pp. 150 - 156
• Main Authors: Scanzi, F., Andreoli, L., Martinelli, M., Taraborelli, M., Cavazzana, I., Carabellese, N., Ottaviani, R., Allegri, F., Franceschini, F., Agmon-Levin, N., Shoenfeld, Y., Tincani, Angela
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.02.2017; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adjuvants; Adjuvants, Immunologic - adverse effects; Adjuvants, Pharmaceutic - adverse effects; Adult; Aged; Allergology; Antigens; Autoantibodies; Autoimmune diseases; Autoimmunity; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Cardiolipin; Case-Control Studies; Cigarette smoking; Connective tissue diseases; Connective tissues; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; Environment and Autoimmunity; Environmental Exposure - adverse effects; Exposure; Extractive metallurgy; Family medical history; Fatigue; Female; Foundries; Genetics; Glycoprotein I; Glycoproteins; Hepatitis B virus; Humans; Immunology; Implants; Inflammation; Internal Medicine; Irritable bowel syndrome; Italy - epidemiology; Male; Malignancy; Medicine/Public Health; Middle Aged; Occupational exposure; Occupational health; Papillomavirus Vaccines - adverse effects; Patients; Phenotypes; Prostheses and Implants - adverse effects; Signs and symptoms; Silicones; Silicones - adverse effects; Smoking - adverse effects; Syndrome; Tetanus; Tetanus Toxoid - adverse effects; Undifferentiated Connective Tissue Diseases - etiology; Vaccination - adverse effects; Vaccines; Asia; Undifferentiated connective tissue disease; Adjuvants; ASIA syndrome; Vaccinations; Metal implants
• ISSN: 0257-277X; 1559-0755
• DOI: 10.1007/s12026-017-8912-4

The autoimmune/inflammatory syndrome induced by adjuvants (ASIA) is an entity that includes different autoimmune conditions observed after exposure to an adjuvant. Patients with undifferentiated connective tissue disease (UCTD) present many signs and symptoms of ASIA, alluding to the idea that an exposure to adjuvants can be a trigger also for UCTD. The aim of this case-control study was to investigate exposure to adjuvants prior to disease onset in patients affected by UCTD. Ninety-two UCTD patients and 92 age- and sex-matched controls with no malignancy, chronic infections, autoimmune disease nor family history of autoimmune diseases were investigated for exposure to adjuvants. An ad hoc-created questionnaire exploring the exposure to vaccinations, foreign materials and environmental and occupational exposures was administered to both cases and controls. Autoantibodies were also analyzed (anti-nuclear, anti-extractable nuclear antigens, anti-double-stranded DNA, anti-cardiolipin, anti-β2 glycoprotein I). UCTD patients displayed a greater exposure to HBV ( p  = 0.018) and tetanus toxoid ( p  < 0.001) vaccinations, metal implants ( p  < 0.001), cigarette smoking ( p  = 0.006) and pollution due to metallurgic factories and foundries ( p  = 0.048) as compared to controls. UCTD patients exposed to major ASIA triggers (vaccinations, silicone implants) ( n  = 49) presented more frequently with chronic fatigue ( p  < 0.001), general weakness ( p  = 0.011), irritable bowel syndrome ( p  = 0.033) and a family history for autoimmunity ( p  = 0.018) in comparison to non-exposed UCTDs. ASIA and UCTD can be considered as related entities in the “mosaic of autoimmunity”: the genetic predisposition and the environmental exposure to adjuvants elicit a common clinical phenotype characterized by signs and symptoms of systemic autoimmunity.