Selective immunoglobulin E deficiency: an overlooked hypogammaglobulinemia and its association with rheumatoid...

As part of current rheumatoid arthritis management, immunosuppressive treatments with disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs can potentially result in needing to manage immunodeficiency in our patient population. The purpose of this review is to evaluate one specific type of hypogammaglobulinemia, selective immunoglobulin E deficiency, and examine the association with rheumatoid arthritis.

In patients with hypogammaglobulinemia, there is consensus that autoimmunity is more prevalent, though there is heterogeneity among specific immunodeficiency disorders.

Given the potential for high-risk complications associated with immunosuppressive therapies in rheumatoid arthritis and other systemic autoimmune diseases, including the risk for severe infections, furthering our understanding of the association between immunodeficiency and autoimmune disease will only allow for more thorough care of these patients.