Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance, or MGUS, was found not to be associated with the presence of autoimmune disorders among more than 75,000 subjects who were screened (1✔ ✔Trusted Source
Association Between Autoimmune Diseases and Monoclonal Gammopathy of Undetermined Significance
).
What are Monoclonal Gammopathies
Monoclonal gammopathies are conditions characterized by the presence of abnormal proteins (antibodies) in the blood, produced by a small number of plasma cells in the bone marrow. The most common condition associated with these abnormal proteins is monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS).
The researchers believe that these results are important in terms of clinical practice as they suggest that there may be no need for periodic screening for MGUS among patients with autoimmune diseases. The study appeared in Annals of Internal Medicine.
Researchers from the University of Iceland analyzed a cross-sectional study where 75,422 adults were screened for MGUS to see if they could find an association between MGUS and autoimmune diseases. Of those screened, 10,818 had an autoimmune disease, and 599 of the patients with autoimmune diseases had MGUS.
There were no differences between organ-specific and systemic autoimmune diseases or between antibody-positive and antibody-negative disorders. The authors determined that the diagnosis of an autoimmune diseases was not associated with MGUS, but it was associated with a prior clinical diagnosis of MGUS.
The authors caution that studies based only on clinical MGUS cohorts that are very likely to have been identified through work-up of the same diseases with which an association is being sought has led to a false association.
Reference:
- Association Between Autoimmune Diseases and Monoclonal Gammopathy of Undetermined Significance – (https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M23-2867)
Source-Eurekalert
