Meanings
- uncountablebiologyAn autoimmune disease that causes inflammation in the body and mostly affects men.First known use 2020
The researchers note that a diagnosis based on symptoms alone could easily miss cases of VEXAS that would be caught by UBA1 testing.
2023 February 14, Vicki Contie, “VEXAS syndrome more common than realized”, in National Institutes of Health2 more examples
Using a genotype-driven approach, we identified a disorder that connects seemingly unrelated adult-onset inflammatory syndromes. We named this genetic disorder the VEXAS syndrome, which is caused by myeloid-restricted somatic missense mutations in UBA1.
2020 October 27, David B. Beck, Marcela A. Ferrada, Keith A. Sikora, Amanda K. Ombrello, et alia, “Somatic Mutations in UBA1 and Severe Adult-Onset Autoinflammatory Disease”, in New England Journal of Medicine, volume 383, →DOIAdditionally, patients with VEXAS suffer from a spectrum of hematologic problems, including macrocytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, thromboembolic disease, and progressive bone marrow failure, which can evolve to hematologic malignancy
2021 July 1, Peter C. Grayson, Bhavisha A. Patel, Neal S. Young, “VEXAS syndrome”, in Blood, volume 137, number 26, →DOI, page 3591
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
Acronym of vacuoles, E1 enzyme, X chromosome, autoinflammatory, somatic, after the core features of the disorder. First discovered in October 2020, with the report from The New England Journal of Medicine and identified by a multidisciplinary team of scientists (see quotations below).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
VEXAS. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/VEXAS
“VEXAS.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/VEXAS. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “VEXAS,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/VEXAS.
Source: VEXAS on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.