Search for: rheumatoid arthritis methotrexate autoimmune disease biomarker gene expression GWAS HLA genes non-HLA genes
| ID | PMID | Title | PublicationDate | abstract |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6859071 | Distribution of salicylate in lens and intraocular fluids and its effect on cataract forma | 1983 Jun 14 | Retrospective studies on cataract development in patients with rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis revealed a retardant effect of aspirin on diabetic and non-diabetic cataracts. The effect of aspirin is dose-dependent. The correlation coefficient between years delay for various cataracts subcategories versus aspirin taken (in tablets per day X years of intake) was 0.69. The ocular pharmacokinetics of 14C acetylsalicylic acid or salicylate were determined after intravenous or intraperitoneal administration to rabbits. 14C acetylsalicylic acid penetrates rapidly into rabbit lens and aqueous humor after intravenous administration. After intraperitoneal administration, salicylate levels in rabbit plasma, similar to those of humans receiving four to six aspirin tablets (325 mg each), result in accumulation of salicylate by lens (mean +/- SD) of 405 +/- 72 mumoles/g and 620 +/- 30 mumoles/g at two and four hours, respectively. At those dosages, salicylate is cleared in 24 hours from rabbit plasma and intraocular fluids, but retained by lens. Penetration of salicylate into rabbit lens and rat lens is dose-dependent. The retardant aspirin effect in diabetic cataracts is linked to inhibition of tissue aldose reductase and lens protein glycosylation. Deceleration of galactose cataract formation in rats occurs after daily salicylate intraperitoneal injections of 100 mg/kg a day. | |
| 6674837 | Transoral operations for craniospinal malformations. | 1983 | The transoral approach to the lower third of the clivus and to the ventral aspect of the upper cervical spine is used in craniospinal malformations with or without dislocation as well as in basilar aneurysms, ventrally situated cranio-spinal tumours, fractures of the odontoid process, and in rheumatoid arthritis compressing the spinal cord. In consideration of the literature and ten personal cases the indications and techniques of the transoral approach in craniospinal malformations are discussed. According to our own experiences and those of other authors it is possible to expose the lower clivus and the cervical spine down to C2 by a midline incision of the pharyngeal wall using a mouth retractor and oral intubation. Splitting of the soft palate or resection of the hard palate are not necessary, a tracheotomy should be performed only in exceptional cases. In congenital craniospinal malformations without dislocation or instability causing a ventral compression of the spinal cord, for instance by the odontoid process, the transoral decompression is preferable to dorsal decompressing operations. In cases of pure instability without any space-occupying lesion the transoral and posterior approach are possible in order to perform a fusion. The last one seems more advantageous in these cases. In craniospinal malformations with dislocation causing a ventral and dorsal narrowing of the spinal canal, apart from the decompression a stabilization has to be achieved. In these usually complex malformations individual treatment is necessary. According to the rare cases in the literature and to our own experience a primary anterior decompression, followed by a most careful posterior stabilization seems to produce the most favourable results. | |
| 6414226 | A case of acquired pure red cell anemia studied by cloning of erythroid progenitor cells i | 1983 | A 70-year-old woman developed typical clinical symptoms of pure red cell anemia (PRCA) following a history of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The patient's bone marrow erythropoietic progenitors cells were cloned in a micro agar culture system several times over a period of 11 months, revealing a diminished frequency of bone marrow erythroblasts paralleled by a markedly reduced number of CFU-e and BFU-e in vitro. No inhibitory activity in the patient's IgG fraction could be detected either by preincubation with IgG and/or rabbit complement, or in the continuous presence of IgG. Depletion of T lymphocytes from the patient's bone marrow cells led to an improved in vitro erythroid proliferation. Cytostatic therapy with cyclophosphamide clinically induced a marked increase in the bone marrow erythroblast and reticulocyte number, correlated in vitro by normalization of CFU-e levels and increase in the number of BFU-e. Nevertheless, BFU-e values never attained normal levels, which could be attributed to a reduced stem cell pool resulting from previous therapy with cyclophosphamide and/or antirheumatic drugs. Two independent factors, a reduced pool of committed stem cells as well as an autoimmune cell-mediated suppression, may both contribute to the pathomechanism of the disease in this patient. | |
| 6126489 | Membrane-binding antibodies in patients with Graves' disease and other autoimmune diseases | 1982 Nov | Abnormally high levels of activity (BA) of immunoglobulins (Igs) to membranes containing TSH receptors were observed in patients with Graves' disease. The assay to detect such BA used guinea pig fat as the membrane source. [125I]Protein A was used to develop the binding antibodies (in serum or IgG). The assay was able to detect specific BA in microgram quantities or less of IgG in about 50% of the sera of patients with Graves' disease. The presence or amount of serum BA did not correlate consistently with either the presence in serum of TSH binding inhibitory Ig or the clinical estimate of thyrotoxicity in Graves' disease. High levels of BA were frequently found in sera of patients with other autoimmune diseases, such as Hashimoto's thyroiditis, rheumatoid arthritis, mixed connective tissue disease, and systemic lupus erythematosus. However, BA found in the latter disorders frequently was positive not only when using fat cell membranes but also when using liver kidney, or skeletal muscle membranes. The assay may detect a heterogeneous population of Igs binding specifically to membranes and may reflect a general state of autoimmunity. | |
| 6123288 | Vaterite otoconia in two cases of otoconial membrane dysplasia. | 1982 Mar | Scanning electron microscopy, electron microprobe analysis, and x-ray powder diffraction were used to study temporal bone specimens obtained at autopsy from an infant with Potter syndrome and from a second trimester fetus, which was the product of an elective abortion. The mothers of both the infant and fetus were juvenile-onset rheumatoid arthritis patients who took prostaglandin inhibitors during pregnancy. The infant's external ears were low set and the left ear canal was stenotic. The vestibular maculae on the left were covered by aberrant otoconia composed of vaterite. In the right inner ear, otoconia were entirely absent, although the gelatinous otoconial membranes were intact. Only the left saccule and right utricle from the fetus were studied; both contained vaterite crystals similar to those in the infant. In addition, apatite was present in the fetal utricle, apparently lying on the macula beneath the vaterite otoconia. | |
| 6164654 | Appearance of dextrans and antidextran antibodies in human sera. | 1981 | The serologically active moiety of an antigen detected occasionally in pathologic sera by double-diffusion gel precipitation tests, referred to in earlier studies as ubiquitous tissue antigen, was identified as a dextran composed predominantly, if not exclusively, of a(1 leads to 6)-linked glycopyranoses. By means of an enzyme immunoassay, dextran or dextran-like material, which inhibited the binding of antidextran serum to dextran, was detected in sera of several patients with various gastrointestinal (GI) diseases, especially GI ulcers (7/10), and also often in sera of aged people (9/21). However, 2 of 50 normal blood donor sera and a few sera from almost every disease group studied contained low quantities of dextran-like material. The levels of antidextran antibodies of the IgG class were also often elevated among patients with GI diseases and aged people as demonstrated by enzyme immunoassay with dextran T-500 as the solid phase antigen. OD values exceeding the mean plus 2.5 SD of 106 normal blood donor sera were recorded in ;69% of patients with gastric and duodenal ulcers, 40% with ulcerative colitis, 29% with Crohn's disease, 20% with colorectal carcinomas, and in 21% with rheumatoid arthritis. None of 23 children, but 9 of 23 aged people (35%) had elevated antibody levels. It is suggested that absorption of dextrans from food or their production by intestinal bacteria may be facilitated in various GI diseases. | |
| 332422 | Solid-phase enzyme immunoassay or radioimmunoassay for the detection of immune complexes b | 1977 Aug | Bovine conglutinin was used in a solid-phase assay for the detection of immune complexes. In a first step, the tested serum sample is incubated in polypropylene tubes coated with conglutinin to allow C3-coated immune complexes to bind to solid-phase conglutinin. In a second step, the conglutinin-bound complexes are detected using an enzyme-conjugated or radiolabelled anti-immunoglobulin antibody. The conglutinin-binding (KgB) test does not suffer from the interference of DNA, heparin or endotoxins. Its limit of sensitivity for aggregated IgG is 3 μg/ml undiluted human serum. Immune complexes prepared in vitro using tetanus toxoid, or DNA, and corresponding antibodies in human sera could be detected at various antigen/antibody ratios and at antibody concentrations lower than 8 μg/ml. The KgB test allowed for the detection of immune complexes in sera from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, idiopathic vasculitis, leprosy and leukemia. These sera were also tested using the (125)I-labelled Clq-binding activity (BA) test and the KgB test simultaneously, and a significant rank order correlation was observed. In patients with leukemia, a significant correlation was observed using three tests, KgB, (125)I-labelled Clq BA and Raji-cell radioimmunoassay (RIA). Therefore, the KgB test appears as a simple and reproducible method, utilizing a very stable reagent, with a sensitivity and specificity comparable to the other tests studied and allowing for clinical application. | |
| 1237252 | Relation of anesthesia to total hip replacement and control of operative blood loss. | 1975 Sep | Blood loss during total hip replacement has been reported as ranging from 500 to more than 4000 ml. To find reasons for this large variation, 167 case reports were studied. Blood loss was higher with nitrous oxide-oxygen-curare-morphine aneasthesia than with halothane-nitrous oxide-oxygen. Blood loss was also higher in patients with cups, prostheses, and neoplasms of the femoral head and neck than in patients with degenerative and rheumatoid arthritis. In patients undergoing bilateral total hip replacement, operative blood loss was significantly (p=0.05) higher during the second operation. However, the most striking correlation of blood loss was with intraoperative systolic blood pressure (r=0.84), a finding confirmed by a prospective study in 58 patients. Blood loss, operative time, the number of blood transfusions, and the hypotensive and hypoxic response to acrylic bone-cement application decreased when intraoperative systolic blood pressure was lowered by 20 to 30 percent of the preoperative value by the use of trimethaphan or sodium nitroprusside. This moderate reduction of blood pressure resulted in a saving of 2 to 3 units of blood in an average case and a considerably clearer surgical field. The authors consider moderate lowering of blood pressure to be a useful adjuvant in anesthesia for total hip replacement. | |
| 4083227 | [Effect of pregnancy and the puerperium on the development of extrinsic allergic alveoliti | 1985 Jul | Extrinsic Allergic Alveolitis (EAA) is a disease characterized by an exaggerated immune response to inhaled organic dusts that can result in alveolar, and occasionally bronchiolar, damage. This damage can disappear completely with the elimination of the antigen and/or treatment with anti-inflammatory agents. Nonetheless, an important group of these patients do not improve; the inflammatory reaction persists. With time, this results in the deposit of abnormal connective, tissue with respect to its quantity and quality, in the pulmonary interstitium destroying the normal parenchymal architecture and making gas exchange impossible. The most common cause of this disease is inhalation of pigeon antigen with a 5:1 predominance in women. Pregnancy has been considered as a case of allotransplantation that produces in the mother a relative hyporeactive condition. In modifying the immune response to the fetus, it is also modified to other foreign antigens. In this work, we studied 80 cases of EAA, 67 females and 13 males. Of the 67 women, 11 (17.1%) presented with the disease after delivery. Symptoms began from 5 days to 7 months after delivery. Eight of the 11 women had been in contact with the antigen before the beginning of the pregnancy without showing symptoms until after delivery. In 4 cases, there had been contact with the antigen in other pregnancies, without symptoms. EAA is a disease involving the immune system in which changes can be seen in its development during pregnancy, as is also seen in other immune diseases, such as Lupus Erythematosus, Rheumatoid Arthritis and other connective tissue diseases. During pregnancy, the mother becomes tolerant. There is a decrease in non-self recognition.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) | |
| 6331851 | The effects of monocyte-conditioned medium and interleukin 1 on the synthesis of collageno | 1984 Sep 7 | Cultured adherent human mononuclear cells produce factor(s) which stimulate the release of calcium from new-born mouse calvaria in organ culture. This stimulation of bone resorption is accompanied by an inhibition of the incorporation of [3H]proline into collagen which is independent of increased prostaglandin production by the bone. When human osteoblast-like cells are treated with conditioned medium from human mononuclear cells, collagen accounts for a decreased proportion of the protein synthesised. This effect on matrix synthesis is not accompanied by an inhibitory action of the monocyte-conditioned medium preparations on net cell proliferation. In human osteoblast-like cell cultures, partially purified human interleukin 1 also inhibits the production of the bone-specific protein osteocalcin in a dose-dependent fashion. These observations are consistent with the hypothesis that products of human monocytes similar to, or identical with, human interleukin 1 may be important regulators of bone metabolism and may contribute to the bone loss seen in diseases such as chronic rheumatoid arthritis. | |
| 6476917 | Serum amyloid A protein concentration in progressive systemic sclerosis (scleroderma). | 1984 Aug | Serum amyloid A protein (SAA) concentrations were determined in 62 patients with progressive systemic sclerosis (PSS). Forty-seven patients had normal or slightly elevated SAA levels (less than 1000 ng/ml = micrograms/l), while 15 patients had moderately to markedly elevated SAA levels, similar to those observed in active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (greater than or equal to 1000 ng/ml = micrograms/l). Five patients with PSS had SAA levels corresponding to those observed in amyloidosis secondary to RA. High SAA was associated with more severe skin thickening and diminished cumulative survival at five years. The rarity of amyloidosis secondary to PSS is unlikely to be related to an intrinsic defect in SAA production. | |
| 6326447 | The presence of autoantibodies directed to thyroid plasma membrane antigens in sera of pat | 1984 Apr | The presence of antithyroid plasma membrane antibodies (ATMA) has been detected in 97% of patients with untreated hyperthyroid Graves' disease, 85% of methimazole treated hyperthyroid Graves' disease, 25% of Hashimoto's thyroiditis and 6.9% of patients with toxic nodular goitre. The ATMA index was negative in all healthy blood donors, in patients with non-toxic nodular goitre, with the thyrocardiac syndrome and with simple obesity. Studies of patients with non-thyroid autoimmune diseases revealed that ATMA is positive in 11% of patients with scleroderma, 17.6% of systemic lupus erythematosus and 16% of rheumatoid arthritis. The amount of immunoglobulin bound to thyroid plasma membranes after pre-incubation with serum from patients with Graves' disease varied from 4.2 to 25.2 pmoles per mg of membrane protein; these values are several times higher than the maximal binding capacity for thyrotrophin which is 1.28 pmole/mg protein. In the majority of the cases studied TSH did not significantly inhibit IgG bound from thyroid plasma membranes. Significant amounts of IgG were displaced by an excess of TSH only in three cases with untreated hyperthyroid Graves' disease. | |
| 6409476 | Determination of the second component of complement (C2) by electroimmunoassay in sera fro | 1983 Jul | The concentration of C2 was determined by electroimmunoassay in sera from healthy controls, patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), their relatives and patients with other diseases. Monospecific anti-human C2 serum was obtained by immunizing rabbits with purified human C2 and then absorbing the rabbit serum with inactivated normal human serum that was made insoluble. In addition, it was shown that human C2 could be purified by means of affinity chromatography on anti-C2 antibody coupled Sepharose. The serum concentration of C2 was 37.8 +/- 5.0 (s.d.) micrograms/ml in healthy controls (n = 133). In patients with SLE, the values were below normal in the active phase and were within normal limits in the inactive phase, showing good correlations with other complement parameters such as CH50, C4, C3 and factor B. C2 concentration was well correlated with C2 haemolytic activity in the inactive phase of SLE, but there was no relationship between the two in the active phase. The mean value of C2 concentration in the relatives of patients with SLE showed no significant difference from that in healthy controls. C2 concentration tended to be high in patients with scleroderma, polymyositis, rheumatoid arthritis, Behçet's disease and aortitis syndrome. However, the values were often low in patients with chronic liver diseases, suggesting a decrease of C2 production in the liver. | |
| 7044634 | Analysis of circulating IgA and detection of immune complexes in primary IgA nephropathy. | 1982 Apr | The sera of 31 patients with primary IgA nephropathy were investigated for IgA containing immune complexes by Raji cell-binding IgA radioimmunoassay and conglutinin-binding IgA radioimmunoassay. Positive results, without correlation with IgA serum levels, were found in 68% of the patients using the first assay, in 39% of the patients with the second assay. Positive sera were analysed by gel chromatography. Conglutinin-binding IgA eluted in two peaks, a minor one of 400,000-800,000 daltons mol. wt and a major one corresponding to monomeric IgA. No increase of secretory IgA and of polymeric IgA was detectable. IgA immune complexes were likewise found in the sera of patients with systemic lupus (five of 12), rheumatoid arthritis (four of 12), subacute bacterial endocarditis (four of 12) and HB virus hepatitis (four of 16). However, the high prevalence on these sera of IgG and IgM immune complexes detected by polyethylene glycol precipitation, solid phase Clq binding assay contrasted strongly with their absence in IgA nephropathy. In addition, the presence of abnormal amounts of conglutinin reactive IgA correlated with the recurrence of IgA deposits after renal transplantation (20 patients studied). Conglutinin reactive IgA could contribute to the glomerular deposition of IgA and subsequently play a significant role in the pathogenesis of IgA nephropathy. | |
| 6179407 | A recent overview on in vitro and in vivo immunological activities of methisoprinol. | 1982 Mar | Methisoprinol (Isoprinosine), a purine derivative, has been shown to exert a number of immunopharmacological effects, both in vitro and in vivo, in animal and human studies. The agent, somehow mimicking the effects of thymic factors, induces the appearance of phenotypic markers of differentiation on immature precursor T cells; enhances the proliferative response of murine and human lymphocytes to mitogens or antigens, augments helper or suppressor T cell functions and increases the production of lymphotoxin a lymphokine. It has also been shown that this drug can potentiate the effects of macrophage activating factor to stimulate macrophage, and of interferon to protect mice against experimental viral and tumor challenges. In humans, beneficial results have been reported from clinical trials testing the effects of methisoprinol in a variety of diseases including subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), acute viral encephalitis, recurrent mucocutaneous infections due to type I and II Herpes viruses as well as in immune restoration of cancer patients with immunodepression following radiotherapy. The drug is also being studied in immunopathological disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus. Sjogren's disease and type A hepatitis. The large spectrum of effects of methisoprinol on a number of immune parameters, the increasing evidence of its therapeutic value in several pathological conditions and its safety of use qualifies this drug as an interesting immunoregulating agent. | |
| 12311462 | Oral contraceptive labeling disclosure of possible benefits. | 1982 Feb 17 | Oral contraceptive (OC) labeling disclosure of possible benefits from use of the products, was recommended by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Fertility and Maternal Health Drugs Advisory Committee at its February 11 meeting. Committee member Howard Orr, Centers for Disease Control, noting the emphasis on cautionary and warning statements contained in current OC labeling maintained: "Women should make informed decisions and this is the other half. The package insert must include the benefits information." The recommendation by the committee represents a shift in the approach to what constitutes proper labeling for OC products. Since first approved, the drugs have never carried a discussion of benefits on their labels. "A number of additional benefits from OCs--other than contraception--have emerged from the large number of studies recorded in the literature on OC use," Ron Nelson, White Memorial Medical Center, stated. "Studies cited a more regular and lighter menstrual flow, resulting in less blood loss and lower iron deficiency and anemia in contraceptive pill users, and dysmenorrhea and premenstrual tension have been sifnificantly reduced." "Ovarian cysts and pelvic inflammatory disease occurred less frequently in pill users than in controls," Nelson continued, "and the incidence of fibrocystic disease of the breast were less. There are some instances where OCs may incur protection against the development of ovarian cancer, endometrial cancer, and rheumatoid arthritis." Orr added: "I think there are 2 good studies that show almost a total elimination of ectopic pregnancy with women who took the pill. Given that now there's an epidemic of the disease going around, I think it's worth adding." The committee was asked by FDA last November to recommend changes in the current physician and patient OC labeling. FDA's Solomon Sobel, MD, Endocrine and Metabolic Drugs Division, told the committee that an agency subcommittee would review the recommendations, present them to the committee in May for final comment, then publish them in the Federal Register. | |
| 7411139 | The binding of Gold(I) to metallothionein. | 1980 Jul | The binding of gold(I) to metallothionein, MT, has been unambiguously established by the reaction of Na2AuTM with purified horse kidney MT. Zinc was displaced more readily than cadmium although the latter could be displaced using large Au/Cd ratios. The metal exchange reactions were complete within 2 hr of mixing. Further evidence that such reactions might be physiologically significant were obtained by studying in vitro metal displacements in the liver cytol of in vivo metal treated rats: When Na2AuTM was added to the cytosol of rats administered CdCl2 in vivo, zinc, copper and cadmium were displaced in 2/1/1 ratios from the metallothionein fraction. The zinc and cadmium displacement provide direct evidence that the gold was binding to MT. Addition of Cd+2 to liver cytosol of gold-treated rats resulted in displacement of copper and zinc, but not gold, from the MT fractions. When liver MT is prepared from rats exposed to Au or Cd, the Cd/protein ratio increased during the preparation, but the Au/protein ratio decreased. The Mt-bound metals account for 95% of the cytosolic Cd but only 15%-30% of the cytosolic gold in these studies. Thus, the nonspecific binding of gold to MT in vivo should be considered as one aspect in its equilibration among protein binding sites, which include, inter alia, metallothionein. Gold was found to coelute with zinc and cadmium in the MT fraction of rat kidney cytosol, when both Cd and Na2AuTM were administered to the rats. The possible significance of gold binding to MT in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis--chrysotherapy--is briefly discussed. | |
| 6928396 | Induced acute non-lymphocytic leukemia following long-term chemotherapy: a study of 20 cas | 1980 Mar 15 | Twenty individuals developed acute non-lymphocytic leukemia (ANLL) following long-term chemotherapy for other disorders. The primary disorders included non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (five), Hodgkin's disease (five), carcinoma (four), multiple myeloma (three), chronic leukemia (two), and rheumatoid arthritis. Leukemia developed from 11-132 months (mean approximately 60 months) following institution of chemotherapy and all cases have occurred since 1974. Pre-leukemic cytopenias were present in 15 individuals. Fifteen of the 20 patients had chromosome analyses and 14 were abnormal. The leukemia was invariably refractory to chemotherapy with a median survival of only two months. Of the patients autopsied, only one individual had any evidence of the primary malignancy. This study illustrates the need for surveillance for secondary ANLL following long-term chemotherapy with/without radiotherapy. Duration of optimal chemotherapy for the primary disease must be determined by control trials and weighed against the risk of developing a secondary leukemia. | |
| 4639012 | Human cartilage lysozyme. | 1972 Sep | The lysozyme content of human cartilage was measured by incubation of lyophilized, powdered cartilage in a variety of buffers and salt solutions, and the factors controlling the binding of lysozyme within cartilage were studied. Lysozyme was extracted from hyaline cartilage by buffers of pH greater than 9.0 by solutions 1 M in monovalent cations, and by solutions 0.12-0.40 M in divalent cations. The ability of cations to extract lysozyme from cartilage agreed with their known affinities for binding to chondroitin sulfate. The total extractable lysozyme content of five samples of human costal cartilage ranged from 1.45 to 3.36 mug lysozyme per mg of cartilage; for five samples of hyaline cartilage from peripheral joints the range was 0.80-3.03 mug lysozyme per mg of cartilage. Cartilage incubated in excess exogenous lysozyme could bind 0.053 equivalents of lysozyme per equivalent of chondroitin sulfate. Fibrocartilage and synovium from knee joints yielded no detectable lysozyme, despite the fact that synovium, a tissue rich in lysosomes, contained measurable quantities of beta-glucuronidase. Lysozyme extraction from cartilage was not augmented by incubation with streptolysin S. When incubation was carried out with mild extraction techniques, lysozyme extraction from cartilage tended to parallel uronic acid release, both as a function of time and from one specimen to another. The active material as lysozyme. Lysozyme occurs in human hyaline cartilage as a counterion to polyanionic glycosaminoglycans. Carextracted from cartilage met five criteria for identification tilage lysozyme appears to be extracellular and nonlysosomal. Degradation of cartilage may contribute to the increased serum and synovial fluid lysozyme levels often present in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. | |
| 6601951 | Acute effects of steroids on immune complex profile of patients with systemic lupus erythe | 1983 May | Eleven patients with active systemic lupus erythematosus, previously untreated, were studied to 1) determine the acute effect of corticosteroids on circulating immune complex (CIC) levels and 2) correlate the initial CIC profile with the development of organ system involvement. Using serial measurements of CIC as detected by assays for cryoglobulins and binding to C1q, Raji cells, and rheumatoid factor, we found that levels of CIC change little during the first month of high dose daily steroid therapy, but they uniformly decrease to near normal by 6 to 12 months. High levels of CIC detected by Raji cell assay early in the course of systemic lupus erythematosus and before steroid therapy appear to be predictive of the development of chronic lupus nephritis (P less than 0.005). |