What is the Difference Between Behcet’s Disease and Reiter’s Syndrome

Both Behcet’s disease and Reiter’s syndrome are characterized by excessive inflammation. Inflammation is a normal mechanism of the body that occurs when responding to injuries and invaders like germs. It promotes healing and makes people feel better. However, inflammation that happens when there is no injury or invaders can harm healthy parts of the body. This leads to a range of chronic diseases, such as Behcet’s disease (Behcet’s syndrome) and Reiter’s syndrome.

The key difference between Behcet’s disease and Reiter’s syndrome is their cause. Behcet’s disease is a condition that causes blood vessel inflammation throughout the body, while Reiter’s syndrome causes joint pain and swelling triggered by an infection in another part of the body.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Behcet’s Disease  
3. What is Reiter’s Syndrome
4. Similarities – Behcet’s Disease and Reiter’s Syndrome
5. Behcet’s Disease vs Reiter’s Syndrome in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Behcet’s Disease vs Reiter’s Syndrome
7. FAQ – Behcet’s Disease and Reiter’s Syndrome

What is Behcet’s Disease?

Behcet’s disease is a rare disorder. It causes blood vessel inflammation throughout the body. This condition is characterized by a number of signs and symptoms, such as mouth sores, skin rashes and lesions, eye inflammation, and genital sores. Behcet’s disease is an autoimmune condition. Moreover, genetic and environmental factors play a role in getting this disease.

Figure 01: Behcet’s Disease

Tests to diagnose Behcet’s disease include physical examination, blood tests, and a pathergy test. Treatment options for Behcet’s disease include skin creams, gels, and ointments to apply to skin and genital sores; mouth rinses; eye drops; corticosteroids (such as prednisone) to control inflammation; medications that suppress the immune system (such as azathioprine); and medications that alter the immune system’s response (such as interferon alfa-2b).

What is Reiter’s Syndrome?

Reiter’s syndrome is a type of arthritis called reactive arthritis. It occurs because of an infection.  This condition results in joint pain and swelling, which are triggered by an infection in other parts of the body, like the genitals, intestines, or urinary tract. Symptoms of this condition may include joint pain and inflammation, often affecting the knees, feet, and ankles, bony growths in the heel, inflammation of the spine, increased urine output and a burning sensation during urination in men, inflamed cervix and urethra in women, blurry vision, conjunctivitis, and uveitis.

Figure 02: Reiter’s Syndrome

The tests that can be used to diagnose Reiter’s syndrome include blood tests, tests for infections, joint aspiration, urine and stool tests, X-rays, and gene tests for HLA-B27. Furthermore, treatments for Reiter’s syndrome may include antibiotics to treat the infection, NSAIDs and corticosteroids to reduce inflammation, immunosuppressive medicines (methotrexate) to control inflammation, rest to ease pain and inflammation, and exercises to strengthen muscles and improve joint function in the body.

Similarities Between Behcet’s Disease and Reiter’s Syndrome

1. Behcet’s disease and Reiter’s syndrome are two conditions characterized by excessive inflammation.
2. Both these conditions are autoimmune conditions.
3. These conditions can be diagnosed through physical examination and blood tests.
4. They can be treated through specific medications and therapies.

Difference Between Behcet’s Disease and Reiter’s Syndrome

Definition

1. Behcet’s disease results in inflammation of the blood vessels and tissues.
2. Reiter’s syndrome results in inflammation and joint pain triggered by an infection in another part of the body, such as the intestines, genitals, or urinary tract.

Causes

1. Behcet’s disease is an autoimmune disorder where the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue with an inflammatory response (both HLA-B5 and HLA-B51 gene markers are sometimes present).
2. Reiter’s syndrome occurs after an infection with Chlamydia trachomatis or Ureaplasma urealyticum (approximately 75% of those with this condition have a positive blood test for the gene marker HLA-B27).

Signs and Symptoms

1. The main symptoms of Behcet’s disease include genital and mouth ulcers, red, painful eyes and blurred vision, acne-like spots, headaches, and painful, stiff, and swollen joints.
2. The main symptoms of Reiter’s syndrome include painful urination and a discharge from the penis if there is inflammation in the urethra, inflamed cervix, diarrhea, arthritis in fingers, toes, ankles, hips, and knee joints, mouth ulcers, inflammation of eyes, scaly patches on the palms, trunk, soles, or scalp, back pain, sacroiliac, and enthesitis.

Diagnosis

1. Behcet’s disease can be diagnosed through physical examination, blood test, urine test, X-ray, CT scan, MRI, skin biopsy, and pathergy test.
2. Reiter’s syndrome can be diagnosed through physical examination, blood test, X-ray, and genetic test.

Treatment

1. The treatment options for Behcet’s disease include steroids (anti-inflammatory medicines), immunosuppressants, and biological therapies.
2. The treatment options for Reiter’s syndrome include antibiotics, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), like naproxen, aspirin, or ibuprofen for joint inflammation from Reiter’s syndrome, steroids for skin eruptions and eye inflammation, methotrexate for chronic disease and physical therapy.

The following table summarizes the difference between Behcet’s disease and Reiter’s syndrome.

Summary – Behcet’s Disease vs Reiter’s Syndrome

Behcet’s disease and Reiter’s syndrome are two autoimmune conditions characterized by excessive inflammation in body parts. Behçet’s disease is a condition that causes inflammation of the blood vessels and tissues, while Reiter’s syndrome is a form of arthritis that affects the joints, eyes, urethra, and skin. This is the basic difference between Behcet’s disease and Reiter’s syndrome.

FAQ: Behcet’s Disease and Reiter’s Syndrome

1. What are the symptoms of Behcet’s disease?

• Behcet’s disease is also called Behcet’s syndrome. The main symptoms of Behcet’s disease include mouth sores, eye inflammation, skin rashes and lesions, and genital sores.

2. What is the life expectancy of someone with Behcet’s syndrome?

• Behçet’s is a chronic disease. Most patients with Behçet’s disease will likely deal with symptoms on and off for their entire lives. Moreover, most people with this condition are able to live a full life.

3. Can Behcet’s disease be cured?

• There is currently no proper cure for Behçet’s disease, but treatments can help to relieve symptoms and reduce the risk of serious complications. These treatments include giving steroids, immunosuppressants, and biological therapies.

4. What caused by is Reiter’s syndrome?

• Reiter’s syndrome is due to an aberrant autoimmune response to a gastrointestinal or genitourinary infection caused by pathogens such as Salmonella, Shigella, Campylobacter, or Chlamydia.

5. What is the best treatment for Reiter’s syndrome?

• Reiter’s syndrome can be treated through antibiotic therapy that includes ampicillin or tetracycline, over-the-counter or prescribed anti-inflammatory and pain medications, corticosteroids, and physical therapy (exercises).

Reference:

1. “Behcet’s Disease.” NHS Choices, NHS.

2. “Reactive Arthritis Causes, Symptoms, Treatments, and More.” WebMD.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Hypopyon” By EyeMD (Rakesh Ahuja, M.D.). – Own work.(CC BY-SA 2.5) via Commons Wikimedia

2. “Feet-Reiters syndrome ” (CC0) via Picryl

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