Simultaneous onset of rheumatoid polyarthritis and type 1 diabetes
Allanore, Y.; Le Gars, L.; Duron, F.; Christin-Maître, S.; Kaplan, G.; Berenbaum, F.
Presse Medicale 29(33): 1813-1814
2000
ISSN/ISBN: 0755-4982 PMID: 11109434 Document Number: 517300
Rheumatoid arthritis and insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus are both autoimmune disorders of unknown etiology. We report the case of a patient who developed the two diseases simultaneously. A 64-year-old man with no remarkable medical history developed insulin-dependent diabetes disclosed by ketoacidosis that occurred 3 weeks after onset of a bilateral symmetrical polyarthritic syndrome characteristic of rheumatoid arthritis. These two disorders share common susceptibility of subjects with MHC class II molecules HLA DRB1*04. Immunological studies have also shown a common Th1 type cytokine-secretion pattern in both diseases. Epidemiological studies have not however clearly demonstrated a link between them.