The relationship between autoimmunity and specific immunotherapy for allergic diseases

Figures & data

Table 3. The characteristics of the analyzed patients at the beginning of the observational period

Characteristics	Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D	P
number	954	934	890	902	NS
mean age at the start of the observation	32.4 ± 10.1	35.2 ± 7.6	32.7 ± 6.3	34.1 ± 5.0	NS
female (%)	473 (49.6)	429 (45.9)	421 (47.3)	445(49.3)	NS
allergic rhinitis (%)	822 (86.2)	837 (89.6)	786 (88.3)	-	NS
allergic rhinitis and asthma (%)	132 (13.8)	97(10.4)	104 (11.7)	-	NS
duration of disease (mean ± SD) at the start of SIT or symptomatic treatment	5.2 ± 3.6	4.2 ± 2.7	5.2 ± 3.6	-	NS
mean duration of SIT ( ± SD) in years	3.8 ± 0.4	3.6 ± 0.3	-	-	NS
mean cumulative dose of SIT (TU ± SD)	25931 ± 22340	12100 ± 9355	-	-	0.001

Legend: SIT - specific immunotherapy, SD - standard deviation, NS - not significant, TU - therapeutic units, * - the cumulative doses are not comparable due to different types of SIT (natured HDM mixture and chemically modified allergen

Table 1. The incidence of new autoimmune diseases in patients after perennial or preseasonal SIT (group A or group B), in those with allergies but without SIT (group C) and in the healthy controls (group D)

Autoimmune disease	Group A N = 954	Group B N = 934	Group C N = 890	Group D N = 902	P
SLE	2	0	0	3	NS
Scleroderma	0	0	1	1	NS
Systemic vasculitis	0	0	0	1	NS
Rheumatoid arthritis	1	1	0	2	NS
Other arthritis	0	2	1	7*	0.04
Ankylosing spondylitis	0	1	0	1	NS
Psoriatic arthritis	0	0	1	2	NS
Hashimoto thyroiditis	3	2	2	11*	0.03
Graves' disease	0	0	1	2	NS
Ulcerative colitis	1	1	0	9*	0.03
Crohn disease	0	0	0	3	NS
Multiple sclerosis	0	0	1	1	NS
Psoriasis	1	0	1	8*	0.03
Vitiligo	0	1	0	2	NS
Pernicious anemia	0	0	1	1	NS
Others	1	1	0	9*	0.03
Total	9	9	9	63*	0.001

Legend: * significant differences between group D and group A, B, C in one-way analysis of variance ANOVA test, NS - not statistically significant, SLE - systemic lupus erythematosus

Table 2. The detected autoantibodies in the sera of patients (regardless of a diagnosis of autoimmune disease) after perennial or pre-seasonal SIT (group A or group B), in patients with allergies but without SIT (group C) and in the healthy controls (group D)

Type of antibodies	Number of positive results				NS
	Group A N = 954	Group B N = 934	Group C N = 890	Group D N = 902	P
dsDNA	5	5	4	16*	0.03
U1-nRNP	0	1	0	1	NS
RO	2	3	1	5	NS
Sm	2	2	4	7*	0.03
Scl 70	0	1	1	3	NS
ACA	1	4	4	19*	0.001
Jo-1	3	2	2	11*	0.04
U3-nRNP	0	0	1	1	NS
RNA-polymerase	1	1	3	23*	0.03
PM-Scl	0	1	0	1	NS
PCNA	0	0	1	1	NS
Ku	1	2	1	3	NS
Mi-1	0	0	0	1	NS
Mi-2	1	0	1	1	NS
Ribosomal-P	4	2	3	4	NS
AMA-M2	0	0	1	0	NS
pANCA	0	0	0	7	NS
cANCA	0	1	0	3	NS
aTG	7	6	9	48*	0.006
aTPO	9	11	4	54*	0.008
Anti-TRAB	6	6	7	21*	0.01

Legend:* significant differences between group D and group A, B, C in one-way analysis of variance ANOVA test, NS - not statistically significant