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[Simultaneous onset of rheumatoid polyarthritis and type 1 diabetes]
Y Allanore1, L Le Gars, F Duron
1Service de Rhumatologie, Hôpital Saint-Antoine, Paris.
Background:
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.
Case Report:
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.
Discussion:
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.