Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) is a rare genetic disorder characterized by congenital bilateral malformation of the large toe and progressive, extensive, and irreversible heterotopic ossification (HO) of soft tissues throughout the body, leading to severe disabilities. FOP is caused primarily by mutations in activin A receptor type 1 (ACVR1), also known as activin-like kinase 2 (ALK2), which encodes a receptor belonging to the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) type I family. However, the continuous and complex process of HO in FOP is not yet fully understood, which has impeded the development of therapeutic drugs. Despite surgical removal of HO, which often results in recurrence and expansion of ossification, there is currently no definitive drug treatment available to completely prevent, halt, or reverse the progression of HO in FOP. Currently, researchers are intensively studying the pathogenesis of FOP at various stages and developing promising drug candidates, including saracatinib, palovarotene, and rapamycin. This review provides an overview of progress in understanding the mechanism of FOP and the development of therapeutic drugs, with the goal of providing insights for further research and the development of new treatment methods.
Myositis Ossificans/genetics* ; Humans ; Activin Receptors, Type I/genetics* ; Ossification, Heterotopic ; Mutation ; Sirolimus/therapeutic use* ; Quinolones/therapeutic use* ; Benzodioxoles/therapeutic use* ; Animals ; Quinazolines/therapeutic use*

Anesthesiologists have been at the forefront of initiatives addressing perioperative patient safety. As anesthesia has no direct therapeutic benefit, its risk must be minimized. At times the surgery is simple but the patient’s condition complicates anesthetic management, increasing the risk for complications. This report describes the anesthetic management of an adult patient diagnosed with inclusion body myositis (IBM), a rare inflammatory degenerative myopathy, who initially presented with decreased motor function in both lower and upper extremities causing him to be bedbound for two years. Due to the progression of his disease, he eventually developed dysphagia, hence he was scheduled for esophagoscopy, cricopharyngeal Botox injection, and percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy. As patients with IBM are at risk for exaggerated sensitivity to neuromuscular blockers and respiratory compromise, anesthesia was at the helm of a multidisciplinary team approach. The perioperative management centered on preoperative optimization, prevention of aspiration, avoidance of anesthetics that may trigger malignant hyperthermia, and prevention of postoperative pulmonary complication. The hospital course was uncomplicated and the patient was discharged well after one day. This report emphasizes how improvements in resources, technology, and healthcare delivery, especially in anesthesia, help prevent perioperative adverse events.
Patient Safety ; Myositis, Inclusion Body ; Malignant Hyperthermia

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical and immunological characteristics of anti-synthetase syndrome (ASS) patients overlap with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted on ASS patients with arthritis who were treated at Peking University People' s Hospital. Data collected included demographic information, clinical manifestations, laboratory features, lymphocyte subsets in peripheral blood, and treatments. The patients with ASS were divided into two groups based on the presence or absence of RA for comparative analysis. RESULTS: A total of 104 ASS patients with arthritis were included, among whom 23.1% (24/104) were diagnosed with RA. The ASS with RA group had a significantly higher incidence of rapidly progressive interstitial lung disease (RP-ILD) (41.7% vs. 17.6%, P=0.032), number of tender joints [10 (7, 14) vs. 4 (0, 8), P < 0.001], number of swollen joints [4 (2, 8) vs. 2 (0, 4), P=0.012], and rate of bone erosion (47.8% vs. 2.5%, P < 0.001) compared with the non-RA group. Levels of platelets [(289.57±68.74)×10³/μL vs. (247.94±77.04)×10³/μL, P=0.022], erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) [43 (19, 59) mm/h vs. 18 (10, 44) mm/h, P=0.019], and C-reactive protein (CRP) [19.20 (4.80, 55.36) mg/L vs. 5.68 (1.10, 14.96) mg/L, P=0.006] were found significantly higher in the ASS with RA group than those in non-RA group. Analysis of immune cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) showed that significantly decreased proportions of CLA⁺ Treg cells [(11.12±4.10)% vs. (17.22±8.49)%, P=0.003], B cells [8.56% (4.80%, 11.90%) vs. 14.55% (8.75%, 20.29%), P=0.025], and natural killer (NK) cells [7.56% (4.65%, 13.20%) vs. 13.25% (7.46%, 19.25%), P=0.045] in the overlap group compared with non-RA group. Proportion of Naïve Th cells [(52.66±17.66)% vs. (40.76±14.96)%, P=0.033)] was significantly increased in overlap group compared with non-RA group. Overlap group had lower rate of complete clinical response than non-RA group (16.7% vs. 43.8%, P=0.031). CONCLUSION Among ASS patients with arthritis, those with RA have more severe lung and joint involvement and a lower treatment response rate, highlighting the need for early recognition and aggressive intervention.
Humans ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid/immunology* ; Retrospective Studies ; Lung Diseases, Interstitial/immunology* ; Male ; Myositis/blood* ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Autoantibodies/blood*

OBJECTIVE: To summarize the clinical characteristics of 57 patients diagnosed with anti-glycyl tRNA synthetase (anti-EJ) positive antisynthetase syndrome (ASS), a subtype of anti-glycyl tRNA positive ASS, complicated by interstitial lung disease (ILD), and to investigate the factors asso-ciated with ILD recurrence. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of 57 anti-EJ positive ASS patientswho were treated at the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from January 1, 2020 to June 30, 2024. The data collected included demographic information, clinical characteristics, laboratory test results, chest CT findings, and pulmonary function tests. The characteristics of ILD recurrence were also analyzed. RESULTS: All the 57 patients with anti-EJ positive ASS were diagnosed with ILD. The mean age at disease onset was (58.18±10.27) years, with a mean disease duration of 3.00 (2.00, 16.00) months. Among the patients, 70. 18% were female, 87.72% experienced a cough, 70. 18% had expectoration, 89.47% reported respiratory difficulties, and 14.04% developed respiratory failure. The results of pulmonary function test showed that the percentage of forced vital capacity (FVC) in the normal predicted value (FVC%), the percentage of forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) in the normal predicted value (FEV1%) and the percentage of diffusion lung carbon monoxide (DLCO) in the normal predicted value (DLCO%) were 59.36±21.41, 58.34±19.46 and 58.17±27.95, respectively. The oxygenation index was (363.24±99.42) mmHg. Chest CT imaging showed that nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP) was the most common radiographic pattern. Among the 46 patients who completed a follow-up of more than 12 months, 21 cases (45.65%) showed recurrence of ILD. The average age of onset for the recurrence group was (61.38±8.63) years, while that for the non-recurrence group was (55.28±11.85) years, with a difference approaching statistical significance (P=0.056). Further analysis showed that the ESR (erythrocyte sedimentation rate) level was significantly higher in the recurrence group than in the non-recurrence group [(50.48±29.64) mm/h vs. 30.28±23.97) mm/h, P=0.025], and the IgM (immune globulin M) level was also significantly higher in the recurrence group (P=0.042). Moreover, the CD8+T proportion was significantly higher in the recurrence group than in the non-recurrence group (25.48±11.81 vs. 18.59± 8.53, P=0.027). Despite the fact that the recurrence group had a higher baseline age, higher ESR, IgM, and CD8+T proportion, multivariate binary logistic regression analysis showed that these indicators were not independent risk factors for ILD recurrence. CONCLUSION ILD is the most common clinical manifestation in patients with anti-EJ positive ASS, with a significant impact on pulmonary function. Although the patients responded well to a combination of glucocorticoid and immunosuppressive therapies, the recurrence rate remains high, particularly in those with increased sputum production, and elevated ESR. Close monitoring and early intervention for high-risk patients are essential to improving long-term outcomes.
Humans ; Lung Diseases, Interstitial ; Female ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Myositis/diagnosis* ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Glycine-tRNA Ligase ; Recurrence ; Aged ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Autoantibodies/blood*

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the significance of anti-histidyl tRNA synthetase (Jo-1) antibody in idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM) and its diseases spectrum. METHODS: We enrolled all the patients who were tested positive for anti-Jo-1 antibody by immunoblotting in Peking University People's Hospital between 2016 and 2022. And the patients diagnosed with anti-synthetase antibody syndrome (ASS) with negative serum anti-Jo-1 antibody were enrolled as controls. We analyzed the basic information, clinical characteristics, and various inflammatory and immunological indicators of the patients at the onset of illness. RESULTS: A total of 165 patients with positive anti-Jo-1 antibody were enrolled in this study. Among them, 80.5% were diagnosed with connective tissue disease. And 57.6% (95/165) were diagnosed with IIM, including ASS (84/165, 50.9%), immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy (7/165, 4.2%) and dermatomyositis (4/165, 2.4%). There were 23.0% (38/165) diagnosed with other connective tissue disease, mainly including rheumatoid arthritis (11/165, 6.7%), undifferentiated connective tissue disease (5/165, 3.0%), interstitial pneumonia with autoimmune features (5/165, 3.0%), undifferentiated arthritis (4/165, 2.4%), Sjögren's syndrome (3/165, 1.8%), systemic lupus erythematosus (3/165, 1.8%), systemic vasculitis (3/165, 1.8%), and so on. Other cases included 3 (1.8%) malignant tumor patients, 4 (2.4%) infectious cases and so on. The diagnoses were not clear in 9.1% (15 /165) of the cohort. In the analysis of ASS subgroups, the group with positive serum anti-Jo-1 antibody had a younger age of onset than those with negative serum anti-Jo-1 antibody (49.9 years vs. 55.0 years, P=0.026). Clinical manifestations of arthritis (60.7% vs. 33.3%, P=0.002) and myalgia (47.1% vs. 22.2%, P=0.004) were more common in the ASS patients with positive anti-Jo-1 antibody. With the increase of anti-Jo-1 antibody titer, the incidence of the manifestations of arthritis, mechanic hands, Gottron sign and Raynaud phenomenon increased, and the proportion of abnormal creatine kinase and α-hydroxybutyric dehydrogenase index increased in the ASS patients. The incidence of myalgia and myasthenia were significantly more common in this cohort when anti-Jo-1 antibody-positive ASS patients were positive for one and more myositis specific antibodies/myositis associated autoantibodies (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION The disease spectrum in patients with positive serum anti-Jo-1 antibody includes a variety of diseases, mainly ASS. And anti-Jo-1 antibody can also be found in many connective tissue diseases, malignant tumor, infection and so on.
Humans ; Middle Aged ; Myalgia ; Myositis/epidemiology* ; Autoantibodies ; Connective Tissue Diseases ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; Neoplasms

Humans ; Child ; COVID-19/complications* ; Brain Diseases ; Myositis/complications* ; Kidney ; Liver Failure, Acute/complications* ; Acute Kidney Injury/complications*

The patient was a 55-year-old man who was admitted to hospital with "progressive myalgia and weakness for 4 months, and exacerbated for 1 month". Four months ago, he presented with persistent shoulder girdle myalgia and elevated creatine kinase (CK) at routine physical examination, which fluctuated from 1 271 to 2 963 U/L after discontinuation of statin treatment. Progressive myalgia and weakness worsened seriously to breath-holding and profuse sweating 1 month ago. The patient was post-operative for renal cancer, had previous diabetes mellitus and coronary artery disease medical history, had a stent implanted by percutaneous coronary intervention and was on long-term medication with aspirin, atorvastatin and metoprolol. Neurological examination showed pressure pain in the scapularis and pelvic girdle muscles, and V- grade muscle strength in the proximal extremities. Strongly positive of anti-HMGCR antibody was detected. Muscle magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) T2-weighted image and short time inversion recovery sequences (STIR) showed high signals in the right vastus lateralis and semimembranosus muscles. There was a small amount of myofibrillar degeneration and necrosis, CD4 positive inflammatory cells around the vessels and among myofibrils, MHC-Ⅰ infiltration, and multifocal lamellar deposition of C5b9 in non-necrotic myofibrils of the right quadriceps muscle pathological manifestation. According to the clinical manifestation, imageological change, increased CK, blood specific anti-HMGCR antibody and biopsy pathological immune-mediated evidence, the diagnosis of anti-HMGCR immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy was unequivocal. Methylprednisolone was administrated as 48 mg daily orally, and was reduced to medication discontinuation gradually. The patient's complaint of myalgia and breathlessness completely disappeared after 2 weeks, the weakness relief with no residual clinical symptoms 2 months later. Follow-up to date, there was no myalgia or weakness with slightly increasing CK rechecked. The case was a classical anti-HMGCR-IMNM without swallowing difficulties, joint symptoms, rash, lung symptoms, gastrointestinal symptoms, heart failure and Raynaud's phenomenon. The other clinical characters of the disease included CK as mean levels >10 times of upper limit of normal, active myogenic damage in electromyography, predominant edema and steatosis of gluteus and external rotator groups in T2WI and/or STIR at advanced disease phase except axial muscles. The symptoms may occasionally improve with discontinuation of statins, but glucocorticoids are usually required, and other treatments include a variety of immunosuppressive therapies such as methotrexate, rituximab and intravenous gammaglobulin.
Male ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Autoantibodies ; Myositis/diagnosis* ; Autoimmune Diseases ; Muscle, Skeletal/pathology* ; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors/therapeutic use* ; Necrosis/pathology* ; Muscular Diseases/drug therapy*

Humans ; Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors ; Myocarditis ; Myositis/chemically induced* ; Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological

OBJECTIVE: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) have significantly improved the treatment efficacy of a variety of malignant tumors. However, patients may experience a series of special side effects during treatments with ICI. Immune-related myositis after ICI treatment is characterized by autoimmune rheumatic and musculoskeletal damage, which is relatively rare. To analyze the clinical characteristics and outcomes of ICI-associated myositis in urological tumors, we summarized the clinical manifestations, electrophysiological and pathological characteristics, treatments and outcomes in 8 patients. METHODS: The clinical data of the 8 patients with immune-related myositis after ICI treatment for urological tumors treated in the Department of Urology, Peking University First Hospital from March 2018 to March 2022 were retrospectively analyzed for demographic characteristics, drug regimen, clinical symptoms, laboratory indices, electromyography examination, pathological manifestations and outcomes. RESULTS: The eight patients included 2 females and 6 males with a median age of 68 years, all treated with ICI for urological neoplasms, including 2 upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC), 3 renal cell carcinoma (RCC), and 3 bladder cancer (BCa). The median time between the first ICI treatment and the detection of immune-related myositis was 39.5 days, and the median duration of treatment was 2 sessions. The main symptoms were muscle pain and weakness, 5 cases with ptosis, 3 cases with secondary rhabdomyolysis, 5 cases with myocarditis, 1 case with myasthenia gravis, and 1 case with enterocolitis. Among them, patients with immune-related myocarditis had a shorter interval from the first anti-programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) therapy to the onset of immune-related myositis (P=0.042) compared with patients without myocarditis. The 8 patients had significant elevation of transaminases and muscle enzyme profile indexes, and 5 patients showed positive auto-antibodies. 3 patients had perfected muscle biopsies and showed typical skeletal muscle inflammatory myopathy-like pathological changes with CD3⁺, CD4⁺, CD8⁺, CD20⁺ lymphocytes and CD68⁺ macrophage infiltration. After the diagnosis of immune-related myositis, all the 8 patients immediately discontinued ICI therapy and improved after intravenous administration of methylprednisolone alone or in combination with gamma-globulin. CONCLUSION Immune-related myositis after ICI treatment is an immune-related adverse reactions (irAEs) with unique clinical and pathological features, commonly combined with cardiovascular adverse reactions. Immediate discontinuation of ICI and initiation of glucocorticoid therapy may improve the patient's condition in a timely manner.
Aged ; Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological/adverse effects* ; Carcinoma, Transitional Cell ; Female ; Humans ; Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors/adverse effects* ; Kidney Neoplasms/drug therapy* ; Male ; Myocarditis/drug therapy* ; Myositis/pathology* ; Retrospective Studies ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms

Juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) is an autoimmune disease manifesting as proximal muscle weakness and skin rash and can involve multiple systems and visceral organs. Myositis-specific autoantibodies (MSAs) are highly associated with various complications and prognosis in JDM. Patients with anti-Mi-2 antibodies tend to have good prognosis and typical clinical symptoms. Patients with anti-MDA5 antibodies often have diffuse interstitial lung disease and skin ulcer, with mild symptoms of myositis. Patients with anti-NXP2 antibodies often have calcinosis, and such antibodies are associated with gastrointestinal bleeding and perforation. Patients with anti-TIF1-γ antibodies have diffuse and refractory skin lesions. Anti-SAE antibodies are rarely detected in children, with few reports of such cases. This article reviews the features of clinical phenotypes in JDM children with these five types of MSAs, so as to provide a basis for the clinical treatment and follow-up management of children with JDM.
Autoantibodies ; Dermatomyositis ; Humans ; Lung Diseases, Interstitial/etiology* ; Myositis ; Prognosis