Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the most common chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease in childhood, significantly contributing to both short- and long-term disability. While certain human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II alleles are known to be associated with specific subgroups of JIA, emerging evidence suggests a strong correlation between these alleles and treatment response. This study involved 143 JIA patients diagnosed according to International League of Associations for Rheumatology criteria. Each patient underwent HLA class II typing, including HLA-B27, as well as tests for rheumatoid factor (RF) and antinuclear antibodies (ANA). Comprehensive rheumatological assessments were conducted at diagnosis, with follow-ups at three and six months post-onset. After six months of methotrexate (MTX) treatment, patients were categorized as responders or non-responders. Responders achieved clinically inactive disease based on the American College of Rheumatology Provisional Criteria for Defining Clinical Inactive Disease and Clinical Remission. Non-responders, who did not reach clinically inactive disease after six months of treatment, required the addition of another non-biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) or a biological DMARD. Our analysis revealed that the HLA-DRB1*01 allele is a significant prognostic marker for therapeutic response, predicting therapeutic resistance (P=0.01). The most prevalent HLA-DRB1 alleles in the treatment-resistant group were HLA-DRB1*08:11 (11.3%), HLA-DRB1*01:01 (8.5%), HLA-DRB1*01:13, HLA-DRB1*04:11 (7%), HLA-DRB1*08:13, and HLA-DRB1*08:15 (4.2%). These findings highlight the critical role of HLA class II alleles in pediatric rheumatology, particularly in relation to treatment response and disease prognosis. In the era of personalized medicine, understanding the genetic contributions to treatment response and outcomes in JIA patients is essential. A key limitation of this study was the lack of comparison of treatment responses across different JIA subtypes. Future studies should prioritize evaluating MTX efficacy within specific JIA subgroups to enable a more tailored understanding of its effectiveness.

Background: Diabetes mellitus type 1 (T1D) is an autoimmune organ-specific disease with a wide range of clinical manifestations, in which the β cells of the pancreatic islets of Langerhans are destroyed by the action of autoreactive T lymphocytes and the formation of autoantibodies against β cell components. Among used serological markers of T1D, anti-glutamic acid decarboxylase antibodies (GAD65), anti-tyrosine phosphatase antibodies (IA2), islet cell antibodies (ICA), insulin autoantibodies (IAA) and anti-zinc transporter antibodies (Zn-T8) are of great significance. Objective: This study aimed to analyze presence of type 1 diabetes-related autoantibodies (GAD65, IA2, ICA, IAA and Zn-T8 and effects of age and gender on their occurrence in pediatric population. Methods: Sixty seven (N=67) T1D pediatric patients were included in the study. The levels of immunological parameters such as anti-glutamic acid decarboxylase antibodies (GAD-Ab), anti-tyrosine phosphatase antibodies (IA2-Ab), islet cell antibodies (ICA) and insulin autoantibodies (IAA) were determined by chemiluminescence immunoassay (CLIA) and anti-zinc transporter antibodies (Zn-T8-Ab) were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). For statistical analysis, we used SPSS statistical program. Results: Our study revealed that among 67 patients with T1D (40 male and 27 female), with an average age of 12,1±3,9 years. The average age of diabetes diagnosis was 6,15±3,29 years. 24 (35,8%) cases were positive for GAD65, 15 (22,4%) for ICA, 34 (50,7%) for IAA, 16 (23,9%) for IA2 and 36 (53,7%) for Zn-T8. The largest number of patients had single positive antibody, the most dominated among them was IAA dominated (40,9%), then Zn-T8 (31,8%). According to Spearman correlation test Zn-transporter shows a significant positive correlation with age of the participants (p=0.027) and disease duration (p=0.006). Anti IA2 shows significant negative correlation with HbA1c (p=0.043). Zn-transporter is associated with patients age and duration of T1D. Conclusion: In most cases, patients with T1D are positive for at least one of the specific autoantibodies. Zn-T8 is the most frequently detected and is an important serological marker of type 1 diabetes mellitus. Gender effects on autoantibodies seems to be insignificant, while age alongside disease duration shows important effects.

Background: Psoriasis as an immune-mediated inflammatory skin disease. The basis of the pathogenesis of psoriasis is the dysregulation of immune cell function in genetically predisposed individuals. The characteristic dysfunction of the immune system in patients with psoriasis is manifested as a variation in the cellular phenotypic profile in accordance with the disease status. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the immunophenotypic profile of lymphocytes obtained by flow cytometry as an auxiliary diagnostic tool in the objectivization of the PASI score. Methods: The study group included 40 patients with psoriasis, hospitalized and treated at Dermatology Clinic of Clinical center University of Sarajevo and 30 healthy individuals as controls. After venepunction, the blood samples for determining the immune profile were prepared following standard laboratory procedures using conjugated monoclonal antibodies and BD FACSCanto II flow cytometer. T-lymphocytes (CD3, CD4, CD8), B lymphocytes (CD19), Natural killer cells (NK), and activatet T-cells (CD3HLA) were determined for all patients. Based on the PASI score, the severity and area of the disease was assessed for all psoriasis patients by dermatology specialist. Results: Our data shows no significant difference in any of the lymphocyte subpopulations between psoriasis patients and healthy controls, except CD3HLA. CD3HLA has higher values in patients with psoriasis, p=0.015. Of all the parameters, only NK cells were significantly correlated to the PASI score (rho -0.279; p=0.048). ROC curve analysis revealed a statistically significant difference for the proportion of CD3 lymphocytes (AUC 0.799; p=0.004), CD8 lymphocytes (AUC 0.733; p= 0.023), NK cells (AUC 0.722; p=0.008) and CD3HLA activated T lymphocytes (AUC 0.347; p=0.034). Conclusion: Profile of major lymphocyte subsets in patients with psoriasis is similar to that of healthy controls. The values of CD3, CD8, NK, CD3HLA were defined as biomarkers capable of distinguishing psoriasis according to the severity of the disease. Immunophenotyping of peripheral blood lymphocytes can play an important role as an auxiliary diagnostic method in differentiating the clinical stages of psoriasis and objectifying the PASI score.