BackgroundThe therapeutic management of Sjögren’s Syndrome remains challenging in clinical practice. Randomized clinical trials with rituximab (RTX) fail to submit primary outcomes; nevertheless, some case series show improvement with this treatment.ObjectivesTo evaluate the effectiveness of therapy with RTX in patients with primary Sjögren’s Syndrome (pSS).MethodsA retrospective chart review was conducted among patients with pSS who fulfilled 2002 AECG and 2016 ACR/EULAR criteria and had received RTX in the last 6 years. Patients with Sjögren’s Syndrome associated with other autoimmune diseases were not included. Clinical, serological and radiological variables were analyzed (prior and 6 months after RTX therapy). A descriptive statistical analysis was performed.Results18 patients were analyzed, 72.2% women, with a mean age of 60.9 years (36-83) and a mean duration of disease of 9.7 years (2-28).Reasons for treatment initiation were pulmonary involvement (n=5), renal involvement (n=4), arthritis (n=3), severe ocular/oral dryness (n=3), recurrent mumps (n=2) and autoimmune hepatitis with lymphadenopathy (n=1).Initial regimen was 2 doses of 1 g each administered 15 days apart. In 8 patients the dose was reduced in subsequent cycles to a single dose of 1 g or 500 mg. The mean number of cycles received was 3.2 (1 - 12).In 7 patients its administration persists as maintenance treatment every 6 months. In 5 patients, treatment was suspended because of clinical improvement/stability; in 2 it was stopped due to adverse effects (one for psychosis and the other for infusion reaction).; in 1 patient it was discontinued due to lack of efficacy in dryness; in 1 patient with pulmonary involvement, it was replaced by mycophenolate due to COVID-19 pandemic and clinical stability; in 1 patient it was suspended due to initiation of radiotherapy for epidermoid carcinoma of the scalp and 1 died of large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma.RTX was effective in 5 (100%) patients with pulmonary involvement (clinical, radiological and functional stability and/or improvement); in 4 (100%) patients with renal involvement (clinical and analytical improvement); in 3 (100%) patients with arthritis complete improvement was obtained; in 2 (100%) patients with recurrent mumps relapse was avoided; in 1 (100%) patient with autoimmune hepatitis and lymphadenopathy clinical and radiological improvement was obtained. Of the three patients with dryness: 1 experienced subjective clinical improvement, 1 reported improvement coinciding with the use of therapeutic contact lenses and 1 improved only at the beginning.Subjective improvement in asthenia was observed in 4 patients.Complement levels normalized in 4 of 5 patients with hypocomplementemia as well as in 4 of 4 with increased B2-microglobulin; 3 of 6 patients with hypergammaglobulinemia normalized IgG value. No changes were observed in the four patients who were rheumatoid factor positive.6 of 6 patients receiving corticosteroid treatment, reduced the dose by half and 1 achieved corticoid withdrawal.ConclusionThe observed data suggest that RTX may be useful in selected patients with pSS. Further research is needed to determine its efficacy.References[1]Chen YH, Wang XY, Jin X, Yang Z, Xu J. Rituximab Therapy for Primary Sjögren’s Syndrome. Front Pharmacol. 2021 Sep 2;12:731122[2]Ramos-Casals M, Brito-Zerón P, Bombardieri S, Bootsma H, De Vita S, Dörner T, et al. EULAR recommendations for the management of Sjögren’s syndrome with topical and systemic therapies. Ann Rheum Dis. 2020 Jan;79(1):3-18[3]Mavragani CP, Moutsopoulos HM. Sjögren’s syndrome: Old and new therapeutic targets. J Autoimmun. 2020 Jun;110:102364[4]Mariette X, Criswell LA. Primary Sjögren’s Syndrome. N Engl J Med. 2018 Mar 8;378(10):931-939Disclosure of InterestsNone declared

BackgroundNon-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), the most common cause of liver disease, has a prevalence of about 25% in the general population. It increases mortality and comorbidity in patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases.ObjectivesThe main objective is to estimate the prevalence of NAFLD in three of the most common rheumatologic pathologies: rheumatoid arthritis (RA), axial spondyloarthritis (SpA-ax) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA). As a secondary objective, the possibility of finding associated risk factors in this group of subjects that may imply a higher risk of developing NAFLD is proposed.MethodsWe conducted a prospective single center observational study which included patients diagnosed with RA, EspA-ax, and PsA attended in the Rheumatology department of a tertiary hospital from January to April 2021. Anthropometric parameters, history related to cardiovascular risk factors and disease activity at the time of the visit were collected. Additionally, blood tests and transitional elastography were performed in all patients and the presence of NAFLD was assessed by the fatty liver index (FLI) scale. Different variables were considered to study their association with NAFLD.Results90 patients were included: 28 diagnosed with RA, 36 with EspA-ax and 26 with PAs. 41.1% were male (age range: 27-79 years). Patients with previous liver disease were excluded from the study. 22 (27.2%) patients had NAFLD measured by FLI ≥ 60. No significant differences in prevalence of hepatic steatosis were found between the 3 groups, although values were higher in patients with PsA.The variables that were significantly associated with the development of NAFLD in our cohort were: body mass index (BMI), abdominal perimeter, blood glucose level, HOMA-IR (Homeostatic Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance), HDL, TG, GGT, ferritin and uric acid levels. The rest of the variables studied did not show statistically significant differences (Table 1).Table 1.NO STEATOSIS (FLI<60)n=59STEATOSIS (FLI>60)n=22MeanStandard deviationMeanStandard deviationpBMI24,523,0030,292,77< 0,001Abdominal perimeter86,3410,01106,828,55< 0,001Age52,9312,8757,598,240,1185Glucose78,648,3790,6419,690,0002Insulin8,8310,1212,406,660,1302HOMA1,752,022,761,700,0500HbA1c5,350,455,690,640,0096Total cholesterol190,9829,46201,4138,530,1977HDL64,8817,6655,5911,550,0249LDL110,4428,45120,0036,210,2163TG81,1232,42128,5055,52< 0,001GPT25,8330,7337,1819,820,1116GOT27,2023,4926,8210,690,9413GGT20,8017,6649,9538,46< 0,001Creatinin0,750,190,840,180,0583Uric acid4,781,305,911,140,0007Ferritina121,75111,30208,00140,170,0050PCR2,894,552,672,330,8307ConclusionHepatic steatosis was present in 27.2% of patients vs 25% estimated prevalence in the general population. Identification of risk factors involved would allow better control of the comorbidities associated with NAFLD.The fact that the prevalence found in our sample population is so close to that of the general population, may be related to a good inflammatory control of the underlying disease.Further prospective studies with larger sample sizes are needed to find additional predictive factors for the development of NAFLD in this group of diseases.References[1]Bedogni, G., Bellentani, S., Miglioli, L., Masutti, F., Passalacqua, M., Castiglione, A. y Tiribelli, C. (2006). The Fatty Liver Index: a simple and accurate predictor of hepatic steatosis in the general population. BMC Gastroenterology, 6: 33.[2]Brenner, C., Galluzzi, L., Kepp, O. y Kroemer, G. (2013). Decoding cell death signals in liver inflammation. Journal of Hepatology, 59(3): 583-594.[3]Byrne, C.D. y Targher, G. (2015). NAFLD: a multisystem disease. Journal of Hepatology, 62(1 Suppl): 47[4]Miele, L., Vallone, S., Cefalo, C., La Torre, G., Di Stasi, C., Vecchio, F.M., et al. (2009). Prevalence, characteristics and severity of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in patients with chronic plaque psoriasis. Journal of Hepatology, 51(4): 778-786.Disclosure of InterestsNone declared