Search for: rheumatoid arthritis methotrexate autoimmune disease biomarker gene expression GWAS HLA genes non-HLA genes
| ID | PMID | Title | PublicationDate | abstract |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9564771 | [Assessment of the American College of Rheumatology criteria for the classification and re | 1998 Feb | Radiological examination is essential in diagnosing osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. However, diagnoses that are not based on radiological examination are preferred in epidemiological studies, and the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) has recommended classification criteria for OA of the knee based on clinical examination, and indicated that these classification criteria were appropriate for epidemiological studies. To evaluate the validity of this criteria, we examined the interobserver reproducibility as well as the sensitivity and specificity of the criteria for outpatient attenders complaining knee pain with wide spectrum of rheumatic diseases. As a result, interobserver reproducibility was considered good, but both sensitivity and specificity were slightly lower than the report by ACR in which representative rheumatic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis were chosen as control. We therefore consider that ACR classification criteria for OA of the knee in of value, but that radiological examination should be preferred in case it is possible. | |
| 18465650 | Nitroflurbiprofen NicOx SA. | 1998 Nov | NicOx is developing nitroflurbiprofen (HCT-1026) as a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) which has the ability to release nitric oxide. It has completed phase I clinical trials as a potential treatment for inflammation and rheumatoid arthritis [198694]. In the trial, which took place at Queens Medical Center, Nottingham, UK, the drug showed excellent tolerability, as well as potent and long lasting serum thromboxane inhibition in healthy volunteers after single oral doses of 50 and 100 mg [243679]. A repeated dose endoscopic study showed that nitroflurbiprofen causes less gastrointestinal damage in healthy volunteers than flurbiprofen [265025,295029]. Although phase II studies in patients with musculoskeletal disorders were scheduled for 1997 [243679], it seems they have not yet commenced. The compound is as potent as conventional flurbiprofen, but is better tolerated in rats, dogs and rabbits when given orally or parenterally following either single or repeated doses [198694]. Unlike conventional NSAIDs, nitro-flurbiprofen is able to release NO and increase cGMP in endothelial cells, and to inhibit the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase and endotoxin in the gastrointestinal tract [190759]. | |
| 18031152 | Thalidomide: current uses. | 1999 Jun | The major therapeutic effects of thalidomide are the selective inhibition of tumour necrosis factor-alpha production by monocytes and alteration in cellular surface expression of integrins. The major drawbacks of the drug are teratogenicity and irreversible axonal neuropathy. Despite the latter, the drug thalidomide has acquired a unique, albeit limited role, in the treatment of an array of clinical situations where standard therapies have failed. Its use in the treatment of erythema nodosum leprosum maintains its availability worldwide; however, its role in the treatment of graft versus host disease (GVHD) and in the treatment of severe oral and genital ulcers associated with HIV and Behçet's disease is more prominent in the developed world. The recent trials of thalidomide in rheumatoid arthritis emphasise the problems with tolerability; an unacceptably high rate of adverse events led to the premature termination of these studies. Guidelines to promote the safe use of thalidomide have been published. The use of regular monitoring of the amplitudes of sensory nerve action potentials before and during treatment is encouraged and the value of adequate contraception whilst on and immediately after taking thalidomide is stressed. | |
| 17984886 | Low temperatures in post-operative knee rehabilitation in rheumatoid arthritis patients. | 2000 Dec 30 | Low temperatures were applied (in addition to kinesitherapy), in the form of injected air cooled to -75 C and CO2, to 22 patients (34 knees) recovering from total knee alloplasty or synovectomy. Each procedure lasted 5-7 minutes. The control group consisted o 22 patients (34 knees) treated with kinesitherapy only. The range of active and passive flexion and extension in the operated knee joint was tested twice, once before the experiment began and once after the third week. During this period the subjective feeling of pain was also observed. The results were analyzed statistically using the t-Student test. Upon comparison of the results obtained by patients from both tested groups, it can be stated that the addition of low temperatures to the program of post-operative rehabilitation of the knee enables: - faster and more effective pain relief; - faster increase in the range of movement, especially flexion, in the operated knees. These results justify the conclusion that this method should be recommended in rehabilitation of the knee after surgery. |
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| 11778926 | Background and indications for protein A-based extracorporeal immunoadsorption. | 2001 Oct | Protein A (SPA), a major cell wall component of Staphylococcus aureus, has occupied numerous investigators from its discovery in the late fifties. Its availability and avid binding to human immunoglobulins have led to extensive usage for diagnostic and research purposes. Today, SPA-based extracorporeal immunoadsorption relies on two rather different systems, namely, SPA-silica (Prosorba), and SPA-Sepharose (Immunosorba). Both systems are approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the core indications of rheumatoid arthritis and idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (SPA-silica) or hemophilia with inhibitors (SPA-Sepharose). Off label indications include immune disorders with a conceivable connection between autoantibody titers and disease activity, like forms of glomerulonephritis, systemic lupus erythematodes, myasthenia, and the Guillain-Barré syndrome as well as alloantibody formation in the context of e.g., transplantation. This review summarizes historical developments and important properties of SPA. Indications for extracorporeal therapy are discussed on the basis of available information and personal experience. | |
| 11514920 | Cutaneous granulomas masquerading as tuberculoid leprosy in a patient with congenital comb | 2001 Sep | Combined immunodeficiency disorders are characterized by abnormalities in cellular and humoral immunity. This classification includes common variable immunodeficiency (CVI), a primary immunodeficiency disorder characterized by hypogammaglobulinemia, recurrent bacterial infections, and significant T-cell abnormalities. Associated autoimmune diseases include rheumatoid arthritis, pernicious anemia, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, and systemic lupus erythematous. Granulomatous lesions in lymphoid tissues, solid organs, and skin have been reported. We describe a patient with CVI who developed cutaneous granulomas with perineural invasion; to our knowledge, this is a previously undescribed feature. | |
| 11344968 | [Remission of nephrotic syndrome caused by renal amyloidosis secondary to pulmonary tuberc | 2001 Jan | Secondary systemic amyloidosis is a frequent complication in several chronic infectious and inflammatory states. Although initially amyloidosis was described in association with long-standing syphilis and tuberculosis, with the introduction of antiboitic and antituberculous therapy, rheumatoid arthritis is now the commonest cause of this illness. We present here the case of a 16 year-old woman, who was diagnosed one month ealier with pulmonary tuberculosis. She developed a nephrotic syndrome and her kidney biopsy confirmed the presence of amyloid. Treatment of the tuberculosis was accompanied by clinical remission of the nephrotic syndrome two years later. | |
| 11285423 | Sacroiliac arthrodesis using a posterior midline fascial splitting approach and pedicle sc | 2001 Apr | Many techniques for sacroiliac arthrodesis have been described. No single technique is universally accepted as the standard. The current report describes a new technique using a midline fascial-splitting approach and pedicle screw instrumentation. Four consecutive patients with nontraumatic disorders of the sacroiliac joint who have undergone successful arthrodesis by the described technique are presented. One patient had a spontaneous sacroiliac disruption secondary to rheumatoid arthritis, and was returned to her previous ambulatory status after fusion of the disrupted joint. Her fusion remained stable for 9 years postoperatively. The others had degeneration of the sacroiliac joint that was symptomatically improved by arthrodesis. The described method of sacroiliac arthrodesis may be an attractive option for surgeons who are familiar with pedicle screw instrumentation techniques. | |
| 10524488 | Clinical utility of the erythrocyte sedimentation rate. | 1999 Oct 1 | The erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) determination is a commonly performed laboratory test with a time-honored role. However, the usefulness of this test has decreased as new methods of evaluating disease have been developed. The test remains helpful in the specific diagnosis of a few conditions, including temporal arteritis, polymyalgia rheumatica and, possibly, rheumatoid arthritis. It is useful in monitoring these conditions and may predict relapse in patients with Hodgkin's disease. Use of the ESR as a screening test to identify patients who have serious disease is not supported by the literature. Some studies suggest that the test may be useful as a "sickness index" in the elderly or as a screening tool for a few specific infections in certain settings. An extreme elevation of the ESR is strongly associated with serious underlying disease, most often infection, collagen vascular disease or metastatic malignancy. When an increased rate is encountered with no obvious clinical explanation, the physician should repeat the test after an appropriate interval rather than pursue an exhaustive search for occult disease. | |
| 10439374 | Autoimmunity in Waldenström's macroglobulinaemia. | 1999 Jul | Fifty-seven consecutive patients with Waldenström's Macroglobuliemia were studied retrospectively for autoimmune manifestations. 28 patients or 51% (16 women and 13 men) had clinical and/or serological autoimmune manifestations, two or more of these being concomitant in 20 (12 women and 8 men). The predominant findings were Coombs' positive autoimmune hemolytic anemia (16%), seropositive rheumatoid arthritis (16%), inflammatory gastric ulcer with parietal cell autoantibodies (12%), and IgM-cardiolipin syndrome (11%). 40% of the autoimmune manifestations were present at the time of diagnosis of the Waldenström's Macroglobulinaemia and 60% were observed over a mean period of 4.7 years. All patients had an IgM M-component. There was no correlation between autoimmunity and the size of the M-component or the degree of hypo-IgG and hypo-IgA gammaglobulinemia. The only correlation between autoimmunity and infection was found in patients with gastric ulcer and parietal cell autoantibodies, in whom the infection was caused by Helicobacter pylori. | |
| 10418863 | The prevalence of cervical spondylolisthesis. | 1999 Jul | This study assessed the prevalence of cervical spondylolisthesis in patients undergoing radiographic studies for reasons unrelated to their cervical spine. Scout lateral cervical spine radiographs of 174 patients who had barium swallows were reviewed for the degree and level of cervical spondylolisthesis. Nine patients were found to have >2 mm of anterior subluxation of the cervical spine for a prevalence of 5.2%. Two patients had involvement at the C2-C3 level, one patient at C3-C4, four patients at C4-C5, one patient at C5-C6, and one patient at C7-T1. Subluxation ranged from 2 to 4 mm. Posterior subluxation (retrolisthesis) was not found in any patient. None of the nine patients with spondylolisthesis had complaints of neck pain or upper extremity symptoms, and none had a history of rheumatoid arthritis or cervical trauma. | |
| 10349789 | [Sinusoidal portal hypertension secondary to nodular regenerative hyperplasia of the liver | 1999 Apr | Regenerative hepatic nodular hyperplasia is infrequent and generally appears in association with many other diseases, the most frequent being the Felty syndrome. It may cause portal hypertension and variceal bleeding. A histologic study is necessary for diagnosis since certain biologic data and the nodular appearance of the hepatic surface may be confused with hepatic cirrhosis from which it may basically be, apart from the histologic features, distinguished by its good prognosis due to the absence of liver failure. We present the case of a seropositive patient with regenerative hepatic nodular hyperplasia and rheumatoid arthritis with marked portal hypertension shown in the hemodynamic study performed by our department for presentation of a persistent elevation in transaminases and ultrasonography alterations suggesting hepatic cirrhosis. | |
| 9657322 | Psoriasis patients have T-cells with reduced responsiveness to common mycobacterial antige | 1998 May | Heparinised blood samples were obtained from 20 patients with chronic plaque psoriasis and from 13 age-matched healthy controls. After preliminary titration, mononuclear cells separated over Ficoll-Tryoson were cultured for 5 days with 10 microg ml(-1) of 15 mycobacterial preparations, or with pokeweed mitogen and concanavalin A. Stimulation indices were determined for each reagent and means were determined for patients and controls. Results for patients showed a striking reduction of responsiveness to mycobacteria, apparently due to loss of responses to group i, common mycobacterial antigens, and no differences in responses to mitogens. These observations relate psoriasis to certain other diseases, notably mycobacterial infections, rheumatoid arthritis, Chagas' disease and human immunodeficiency virus infection. The observations may be relevant to the aetiology of psoriasis, and to potential immunotherapy for the disease. | |
| 9621604 | [The characteristics of the clinical course of rheumatic diseases in persons subjected to | 1998 Jan | Results are submitted of clinical, laboratory and immunological studies in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), systemic scleroderma (SSD), with n = 386, 35, 23 respectively, who had been exposed to ionizing radiation from the ChPP reactor accident. In the above patients, serum interferon (SI) levels were found out to be increased while those of natural killer cells (NKs) decreased by comparison with healthy donors; NKs appeared to be significantly lower (P < 0.001) in SLE and SSD patients than they were in RA ones and healthy subjects. | |
| 9009973 | Diagnostic dilemmas in polymyalgia rheumatica. | 1997 Jan 27 | Polymyalgia rheumatica is a clinical syndrome of proximal muscle pain in older patients that often presents a diagnostic challenge because of the large differential diagnosis, lack of definitive diagnostic criteria, and relatively frequent "atypical" clinical findings, such as peripheral synovitis, distal extremity pain, normal erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and mild weakness. Despite an extensive differential diagnosis that includes endocarditis and steroid-responsive malignant neoplasms, routine laboratory testing should be limited, and a low-dose corticosteroid trial is useful as the final step in the evaluation. The clinical overlap with seronegative rheumatoid arthritis is striking, suggesting that these diagnoses may represent different presentations of a similar disease process. While concurrent asymptomatic temporal arteritis is common, there are no data to support obtaining a temporal artery biopsy in patients with pure polymyalgia rheumatica symptoms. | |
| 9125354 | Studies of canine leucocyte antigens: a significant advance in canine immunology. | 1997 Jan | The Canine Leucocyte Antigen Workshop (CLAW) was set up to produce and circulate monoclonal antibodies directed against cell surface molecules defining specific leucocyte cell types in the dog. The antibodies produced by the workshop have been used in studies of the canine immune system. While many similarities between the dog and other animals have been demonstrated, workshop studies have identified some anomalies in this species: CD4 antigen for example is expressed not only on helper/inducer T-lymphocytes but also at high density on canine neutrophils. Workshop antibodies have been used to investigate lymphocyte populations in the normal dog and in a range of diseases from lymphocytic neoplasms through conditions with an immune-mediated component such as Leishmaniasis to potentially autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis and chronic superficial keratitis. | |
| 11269792 | Poststreptococcal reactive arthritis in adults: long-term follow-up. | 2001 Mar | BACKGROUND: Poststreptococcal reactive arthritis (PSReA) is a recognized inflammatory articular syndrome that follows group A streptococcal infection in persons not fulfilling the Jones criteria for the diagnosis of acute rheumatic fever. Characteristic features include nonmigratory arthritis, lack of response to aspirin or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents, and the presence of extra-articular manifestations, including vasculitis and glomerulonephritis. Whether or not patients with PSReA develop carditis is a point of contention. METHODS: We analyzed the clinical features, laboratory findings, response to therapy, and outcome in patients diagnosed with PSReA between 1983 and 1998 and observed through April 2000. All patients were contacted, reexamined, and repeat antistreptolysin, rheumatoid factor, C3 and C4 complement components, and echocardiograms were performed. RESULTS: Seventeen patients (4 men and 13 women) were included. All were of low socioeconomic status. All patients had acute severe arthritis that began shortly after a sore throat episode. Extra-articular involvement including tenosynovitis, vasculitis, and glomerulonephritis was relatively common. More importantly, none exhibited clinical and/or echocardiographic evidence of cardiac involvement. Longterm antibiotic therapy was not given. CONCLUSION: Cardiac involvement did not occur in this group of patients with PSReA. Prolonged prophylactic antibiotic therapy may not be required for adult patients presenting with PSReA. | |
| 10549119 | [Pediatric mono-arthritis as initial manifestation of X-linked agammaglobulinemia (M. Brut | 1999 Sep | INTRODUCTION: There are different causes for knee joint effusions in children. Rheumatoid diseases and hematogenous septic arthritis are the most important differential diagnoses. It is less known that immunodeficiency syndromes may cause serous monarthritis. RESULTS: A case of a five years old boy with monarthritis of the knee is presented. Blood assay and specific immunologic analysis revealed a so far unknown X-linked agammaglobulinemia (M. Bruton). CONCLUSIONS: In case of a monarthritis in children the orthopaedic surgeon or the pediatrician is primarily involved. For differential diagnosis X-linked agammaglobulinemia should be considered as reason for monarthritis, especially, if there are other clues to that disease in the medical history. In the case of agammaglobulinemia effusion and swelling will decrease soon after treatment with intravenous gammaglobulin. | |
| 10963076 | Analysis of TNFalpha microsatellites in 35 patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome. | 2000 | OBJECTIVES: Although the cause of Sjögren's syndrome remains unknown, many arguments suggest a role for both environmental and genetic factors. An association with HLA molecules has been established. Other genes on the short arm of chromosome 6 may be involved, most notably the TNF gene, which may be pivotal in the development of the epithelial lesions. METHODS: We investigated TNFalpha microsatellites in 35 patients with primary Sjogren's syndrome and in 146 healthy controls. RESULTS: The frequency of the TNFalpha10 allele showed a non-significant increase in the Sjögren's disease group (28.6% vs 15.8%; P = NS). We found significant increases when we considered only those Sjögren's disease patients with joint manifestations (N = 24; 37.5% vs 15.7%; P < 0.05) or only those with anti-Ro(SSA) antibodies (N = 10; 50% vs 15.7%; P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Our data support a role for the TNFalpha10 allele in primary Sjögren's syndrome, particularly those forms with joint symptoms and anti-Ro(SS-A) antibodies. | |
| 9614218 | Specific activation of the nuclear receptors PPARgamma and RORA by the antidiabetic thiazo | 1998 Jun | The thiazolidinedione BRL 49653 and the thiazolidinedione derivative CGP 52608 are lead compounds of two pharmacologically different classes of compounds. BRL 49653 is a high affinity ligand of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma) and a prototype of novel antidiabetic agents, whereas CGP 52608 activates retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor alpha (RORA) and exhibits potent antiarthritic activity. Both receptors belong to the superfamily of nuclear receptors and are structurally related transcription factors. We tested BRL 49653 and CGP 52608 for receptor specificity on PPARgamma, RORA, and retinoic acid receptor alpha, a closely related receptor to RORA, and compared their pharmacological properties in in vitro and in vivo models in which these compounds have shown typical effects. BRL 49653 specifically induced PPARgamma-mediated gene activation, whereas CGP 52608 specifically activated RORA in transiently transfected cells. Both compounds were active in nanomolar concentrations. Leptin production in differentiated adipocytes was inhibited by nanomolar concentrations of BRL 49653 but not by CGP 52608. BRL 49653 antagonized weight loss, elevated blood glucose levels, and elevated plasma triglyceride levels in an in vivo model of glucocorticoid-induced insulin resistance in rats, whereas CGP 52608 exhibited steroid-like effects on triglyceride levels and body weight in this model. In contrast, potent antiarthritic activity in rat adjuvant arthritis was shown for CGP 52608, whereas BRL 49653 was nearly inactive. Our results support the concept that transcriptional control mechanisms via the nuclear receptors PPARgamma and RORA are responsible at least in part for the different pharmacological properties of BRL 49653 and CGP 52608. Both compounds are prototypes of interesting novel therapeutic agents for the treatment of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and rheumatoid arthritis. |