Clinical Research Directory

Natural History, Genetics, and Pathophysiology of Systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis, Adult-Onset Still's Disease, and Related Conditions

Background: Inflammatory conditions can cause symptoms like fevers, arthritis, and rash. Systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA) is one of these conditions. So is adult-onset Still s disease (AOSD). Their causes are unknown. Researchers want to learn more about these conditions. This includes genetic changes and environmental factors. Objective: To study sJIA and AOSD in children and adults over time. Eligibility: People with known or suspected sJIA, AOSD, or similar inflammatory condition Design: Participants will be screened with a phone call. Participants will have 1 visit. It may be outpatient or they may be admitted to the clinic. The visit may last up to 5 days. Participants will have: * Medical history * Physical exam * Musculoskeletal exam * Questions about overall health and quality of life, disease activity, functional status, and cognitive ability. Participants may also have: * Pictures taken of their skin, joints, or spine * Blood, urine, and stool tests * Scans or X-rays of joints with arthritis * Chest X-ray * Heart tests * Skin biopsy. The skin will be numbed. The top layers of a small area will be scraped off. Participants who have a joint aspiration may provide a fluid sample. The joint will be prepared, then fluid is removed by needle. A corticosteroid may be injected. Participants who have a bone marrow biopsy may provide sample cells. Participants may be seen by NIH specialists. Members of the participant s family and healthy volunteers may give blood or saliva samples for genetic testing. Participants may repeat some study tests every 6 months.

Acostill ( RaDiCo Cohort) (RaDiCo Acostill)

Adult Onset Still Disease (AOSD) and Systemic onset Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (SoJIA) are two rare multifactorial diseases associated with systemic inflammation. These two forms AOSD and SoJIA are considered to be two facets of the same syndrome, combining four cardinal symptoms \[hectic fever\> 39 °, arthralgia or arthritis, skin rash, a leukocyte formula with more than 80% of neutrophils\]; lymphadenopathy and splenomegaly may also be found. There is an important biological inflammatory syndrome with elevation of the reactive C protein, of serum ferritin with a dramatic drop in the glycosylated fraction. The incidence of the disease is low, around 0.1/100,000 for adults and 0.6/100,000 for children. Its prevalence is approximately 1 to 3/100,000 and 3/100,000 for children, so there are approximately 500 to 1,500 adults and 450 children affected in France. It is subdivided into pediatric and adult forms according to the age of onset before or after 16 years. The prognosis of the disease is functional and vital. Macrophage activation syndrome (SAM) is frequently associated with either the onset of the disease or the initiation of treatment or concomitantly with viral reactivation. The course over time has mainly been studied in children and is variable: regression, course by flare-ups with term regression and chronic joint development. In adults we can also observe these 3 evolutionary modes. However, differences seem to exist between AOSD and SoJIA. The various clinical questions posed by this disease are as follows: * Why does it differentially affect two age groups of the population? * Why is the clinical expression heterogeneous with pure systemic or articular forms, the frequency of SAM, and rare organ damage? * Why is the evolution over time different with resolving monocyclic forms or polycyclic forms and sometimes chronic evolutions? These differences could be explained by distinct underlying pathogenic mechanisms. But at present, the pathophysiology of this entity remains unknown, although several hypotheses can be formulated involving several pathophysiological pathways. The pathogenesis of Still's disease has not yet been elucidated but there is a significant inflammatory reaction without the production of autoantibodies, which makes this disease a form of autoinflammatory syndrome with abnormalities of the innate immunity (activation of macrophages, strong elevations of pro-inflammatory cytokines: interleukins 1 and 18, possible abnormalities of inflammasomes and NK cells). The treatment is based on anti-inflammatory drugs, corticosteroids with the usefulness of methotrexate and anti-TNF in the event of significant joint damage. Interleukin 1 and 6 inhibitors have been shown to be effective in this disease. In adults and children, there are forms that are refractory to treatment, with a risk of AA amyloidosis for these patients. The expected outcomes of this work are to improve knowledge of Still disease and patient management on the following aspects: * Comparison of pediatric and adult forms (which has never been done on a large number of patients), * Better understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms of the disease, * The identification of early diagnostic/prognostic markers, * The possibility of promoting the evaluation of new therapies to come thanks to the constitution of an active file of patients with a standardized follow-up. The ACOSTILL study group is thus a unique collaboration of adult clinicians (rheumatologists and internists) and pediatricians, who have decided to unite their efforts to increase knowledge about the pathogenesis of Still disease in order to better understand the disease and improve care pathways. Many of them participated in the development of the national diagnostic and care protocol published in 2018.

Glycosylated Ferritin in Macrophagic Activation Syndromes

In healthy subjects, from 50 to 80 % of the serum ferritin is glycosylated \[1, 2\] . A decrease in the percentage of ferritin glycosylation can be observed in inflammatory diseases, malignancies, infections, or liver disease but is rarely less than 20% \[3 , 4\] . Percentage of glycosylated ferritin below 20% have been described in patients with adult Still's disease and haemophagocytosis lymphohistiocytic syndromes (HLH). The glycosylated ferritin has been included in the diagnostic criteria for Still's disease in adults. A cut-off of less than 20 % has a sensitivity and specificity of 72 and 69 % respectively , and 35 and 94 % when combined with a total ferritin level greater than 5 times normal value. This parameter was also suggested to be a more specific marker to confirm a diagnosis of HLH than a high ferritin level ( \> 500μg / L). However, several limitations of this parameter were highlighted, some conditions making its interpretation difficult : particularly in cases of major hepatic cytolysis and severe sepsis (miliary tuberculosis, lymphoma and disease Adult Still). It is not always possible to distinguish severe sepsis, HLH syndrome and Still's disease. A fine analysis of various glycoforms components of ferritin could be used to distinguish different subgroups of patients. Few data are available on the mechanism of secretion and glycosylation of ferritin, but the investigators assume that the glycosylation patterns of ferritin may vary between different disease states and reflect distinct underlying pathophysiological mechanisms.

A Study of Anakinra in Japanese Patients With Still's Disease (SJIA and AOSD)

A study to demonstrate efficacy and safety of anakinra in pediatric and adult Japanese patients with Still's disease (Systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis \[SJIA\] and Adult-onset Still's disease \[AOSD\]).