No Association Found for Autoimmune Disease, Monoclonal Gammopathy

MONDAY, May 20, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- In a systematically screened population, there is no association between autoimmune disease and monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), according to a study published online May 21 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Ingigerdur Sverrisdottir, M.D., from the University of Iceland in Reykjavik, and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional study within a prospective, population-based screening study of MGUS to examine whether MGUS is associated with autoimmune diseases. Data were obtained from an Icelandic population of adults aged 40 years or older, with 75,422 persons screened for MGUS.

The researchers found that 10,818 participants had an autoimmune disorder, of whom 599 had MGUS (61 with prior diagnosis; 538 diagnosed at study screening). There was no association for diagnosis of an autoimmune disease with MGUS (prevalence ratio, 1.05; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.97 to 1.15). However, an association was seen for autoimmune disease diagnoses with a prior clinical diagnosis of MGUS (prevalence ratio, 2.11; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.64 to 2.70).

"Our findings have direct clinical relevance because they suggest that recommendations to routinely screen patients with autoimmune disease for MGUS may not be warranted," the authors write.

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