Classical Examples of the Concept of the ASIA Syndrome

Abstract

Autoimmune/inflammatory syndrome induced by adjuvants (ASIA) was first introduced in 2011 by Shoenfeld et al. and encompasses a cluster of related immune mediated diseases, which develop among genetically prone individuals as a result of adjuvant agent exposure. Since the recognition of ASIA syndrome, more than 4400 documented cases have been reported so far, illustrated by heterogeneous clinical manifestations and severity. In this review, five enigmatic conditions, including sarcoidosis, Sjögren's syndrome, undifferentiated connective tissue disease, silicone implant incompatibility syndrome (SIIS), and immune-related adverse events (irAEs), are defined as classical examples of ASIA. Certainly, these disorders have been described after an adjuvant stimulus (silicone implantation, drugs, infections, metals, vaccines, etc.) among genetically predisposed individuals (mainly the HLA-DRB1 and PTPN22 gene), which induce an hyperstimulation of the immune system resulting in the production of autoantibodies, eventually leading to the development of autoimmune diseases. Circulating autonomic autoantibodies in the sera of patients with silicone breast implants, as well as anatomopathological aspects of small fiber neuropathy in their skin biopsies have been recently described. To our knowledge, these novel insights serve as a common explanation to the non-specific clinical manifestations reported in patients with ASIA, leading to the redefinition of the ASIA syndrome diagnostic criteria.

Keywords: ASIA syndrome; adjuvants; autoantibodies; autoimmune diseases; autoimmune/inflammatory syndrome induced by adjuvants; silicone.

Figure 1

Diagnostic criteria for the ASIA syndrome and the five classical examples of this condition. (SIIS: silicone implant incompatibility syndrome; UCDT: undifferentiated connective tissue disease).

Figure 2

The classical examples of ASIA syndrome—fulfill the suggested criteria for ‘ASIA’ syndrome. (SIIS: silicone implants incompatibility syndrome; UCDT: undifferentiated connective tissue disease).