FRI0533 ETHNICITY AND NEONATAL LUPUSRISK IN A LARGE MULTI-ETHNIC COHORT

Abstract

Background: Neonatal Lupus (NL) is an acquired autoimmune disorder of newborns secondary to the transplacental passage of maternal anti-Ro and/or anti-La. Approximately 2% of children exposed to these antibodies develop NL. Prior studies have suggested that babies of non-European ancestry have a higher proportion of cardiac NL when compared to babies of European ancestry. This finding has not been consistently replicated. Objective(s): To examine the association between ethnicity and clinical manifestations of NL in our multi-ethnic population. Method(s): We conducted a cohort study of our large, multi-ethnic NL clinic population. The Neonatal Lupus clinic at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada was established in 1986. Children born to anti-Ro and/or anti-La antibody positive mothers are referred to the NL clinic. Antenatal testing is completed due to maternal rheumatologic diagnosis, a prior child born with NL and/or a history of symptoms that prompted physician testing for these antibodies. Beginning in 2011, families routinely reported ethnicity (Canadian census categories). We divided our NL patient cohort in European and non-European groups; the non-European group includes patients of African, Latin American, East Asian, South Asian and Mixed non-European ancestry (i.e. combination of two or more of non-European ethnicities). We included children assessed in the NL clinic 0.3). Conclusion(s): In our multiethnic NL cohort of children born to mothers with positive anti-Ro and/or anti-La antibodies, there was no association between ethnicity and NL, nor specific NL manifestations. Future analyses will examine the effect of maternal ethnicity and rheumatic disease status on the risk of NL and specific NL manifestations. (Table presented).