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Search for: rheumatoid arthritis methotrexate autoimmune disease biomarker gene expression GWAS HLA genes non-HLA genes

PMID	Title	PublicationDate	abstract
6614852	Implant arthroplasty for metacarpal and interphalangeal joints in rheumatoid arthritis.	1983 Apr	An ongoing research project for the development of flexible implants for small joint arthroplasty in the extremities has been carried out since 1962 by the senior author, based on the concept that a low-modulus implant would not harm bone because of its force dampening characteristics. Implants made of medical grade silicone elastomer were designed, developed and extensively tested in laboratory and clinical studies. Long term clinical, radiographic and biological studies have shown these implants to have excellent biocompatibility and biodurability. The flexible implants act as dynamic spacers to help maintain proper joint alignment and spacing, while supporting the new capsuloligamentous system that develops around them. The flexible implants act as an adjunct to resection arthroplasty to make its' results more predictable, reproducible and durable. Our long term results have shown that flexible implant resection arthroplasty can provide very good durability, range of motion, stability, pain relief, biotolerance and retrievability. The indications, contraindications, surgical techniques and postoperative rehabilitation methods will be discussed for the metacarpophalangeal and proximal interphalangeal joints.
6457008	Determination of T lymphocyte subpopulations by monoclonal antibodies in rheumatoid arthri	1981	The pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis is unknown, but clear abnormalities of the immune system are well documented in this disease. We therefore evaluated T cell subpopulations in patients with rheumatoid arthritis using monoclonal antibodies previously shown to react with all T cells (OKT3), with inducer/helper T cells (OKT4) and with suppressor/cytotoxic T cells (OKT8). These investigations disclosed evidence of a significant decrease in the number of OKT8+ cells/mm3 and a high inducer-helper/suppressor-cytotoxic (OKT4+/OKT8+) ratio in active rheumatoid arthritis. A modest number of patients with active arthritis were treated wit levamisole or with synthetic thymopoietin 32-36 (thymopoietin pentapeptide or TP-5). These individuals responded with ratio decreases to more normal levels. Our data support the hypothesis that monoclonal T cell antibodies may offer an important tool for the further evaluation of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and their individual response to treatment.
990384	Detection and characterization of circulating immune complexes in rheumatoid arthritis.	1976 Sep 30	Circulating immune complexes (IC) were detected and quantified in serum of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by three methods: radiolabeled Clq binding test, anticomplementary activity and optical density of 3% PEG precipitated sera. Rheumatoid factor (RF) is characterized in PEG precipitates by the Waaler-Rose reaction. The relationship between IC, complement and RF levels are analyzed.
1007891	Cervical myelopathy in rheumatoid arthritis.	1976	Preliminary analysis of a follow-up study of one hundred patient with rheumatoid arthritis has lead to the following tentative conclusions: AAS is a common complication of rheumatoid arthritis. The incidence of AAS correlates with the duration of the disease. AAS is not necessarily associated with progressive myelopathy. AAS does not significantly affect survival in rheumatoid arthritis. AAS alone is not an indication for surgical operation, but this should be considered when there is intractable pain or progressive myelopathy.
6604939	HLA DR antigens in rheumatoid arthritis.	1983	The prevalence and possible prognostic significance of HLA-DR antigens have been studied in 129 patients with seropositive (RF-positive) classical rheumatoid arthritis (RA). HLA-DR4 was increased in RA, whilst HLA-DR2 was decreased, though it was not associated with either low titres of RF or with good prognosis. HLA-DR3-positive patients had the highest prevalence of antibodies to nuclear antigens, and the antigen correlated negatively to the presence of subcutaneous nodules, bony erosions and familial RA. RA patients possessing DR3 thus had some of the characteristics of SLE. HLA-DR5 was not present in male RA patients. An absence of familial RA was observed among DRw8-positive patients.
3929704	Chrysotherapy and thrombocytopenia.	1985 Sep	In a study of the clinical and immunogenetic profiles of 17 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and thrombocytopenia (platelet count less than 150 000/mm3 (150 x 10(9)/l)) due to gold therapy two clinical patterns were distinguished without knowledge of HLA type: group I, an early precipitous thrombocytopenia (10 patients), and group II, a less dramatic fluctuant fall (seven patients). In group I patients the clinical and laboratory features suggested an immune mediated, peripheral destruction of platelets, and all patients in this group were found to be HLA-DR3 positive. Two patients subsequently received penicillamine without toxicity. In group II the basis of thrombocytopenia appeared to be different, and only two patients in this group were HLA-DR3 positive. All group II patients had received penicillamine; four developed a thrombocytopenia. Mechanisms of toxicity in both groups are discussed. It would appear that HLA typing in unlikely to help in predicting all those patients at risk of toxicity during chrysotherapy.
7230156	Histologic changes in rheumatoid disease of the metacarpal and metatarsal heads as seen in	1981 Mar	A histologic study of surgically removed rheumatoid metatarsal and metacarpal heads showed that, at this late stage of the disease, the changes in residual cartilage are mainly reparative. An outstanding one is the formation of a new surface under dead cartilage, analogous to the replacement of a snake's skin. Dead cartilage has to be eroded in toto. When live cartilage is exposed to vascular tissue, the chondrocytes take part in the involutionary process. Chondrocytes also appear to initiate the process described as pannus. Deformities are often produced by flask-shaped defects showing severe marginal osteitis. Active erosion of the surface by synovial adhesions has probably been overemphasized in the literature.
6370150	Report on chloroquine and dapsone in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis: a 6-month comp	1984 Apr	A controlled study compared 6 months' treatment of 60 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Half were randomly allocated to treatment with chloroquine 250 mg daily, the other half dapsone 100 mg daily (50 mg/day for the first 7 days) following a one-month run-in assessment period. All patients had active or progressing disease. Both treatment groups showed significant improvement in morning stiffness, number of painful joints, pain scores, Ritchie index, and proximal interphalangeal joint size, and the chloroquine group alone in grip strength. Laboratory tests showed significant decreases in erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, and total serum protein levels, with significant increase in serum albumin in the dapsone group, where there was a significant mean drop in haemoglobin (less than 1 g/dl) and a rise in serum bilirubin, associated with its haemolytic effect. X-ray erosion scores were not significantly affected. The clinical and laboratory responses became evident by the time of the 2-month assessment. Criteria for clinical and laboratory improvement were defined, according to which there were 21/26 improvers in the chloroquine group and 12/29 in the dapsone group. It is concluded that although both are effective preparations, chloroquine showed a significantly higher improvement rate and was certainly better tolerated. It is the preferred treatment for patients with active or progressive disease not controlled by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, with dapsone as an alternative for patients who fail to respond to or cannot tolerate chloroquine.
493520	Antefemoral dissecting cysts in rheumatoid arthritis.	1979 Nov	Five cases of an antefemoral synovial cyst in rheumatoid arthritis were confirmed by arthrography. Communicating with the suprapatellar bursa, these rarely observed cysts may be considered an anterior analogy to dissecting Baker cysts.
3898297	Thymopentin in active rheumatoid arthritis. An open, monitored study in 16 patients.	1985	The present paper reports on 16 patients with active rheumatoid arthritis who were treated with thymopentin administered as intravenous prolonged injections (one push of 5 mg every minute for 10 min) three times weekly for 3 consecutive weeks. Thirteen patients were evaluated, including a follow-up period of 2 months. Most patients improved clinically already after 5 injections. The overall data showed a statistically significant improvement (p less than 0.05) at the end of treatment; this favorable effect lasted for 6-7 weeks after thymopentin was discontinued. Standard laboratory tests and immunological parameters did not reveal any meaningful findings, hence, it can only be speculated about thymopentin's mechanism of action. It is suggested that the dose regimen is very critical as to therapeutic outcome when using an immunomodulating drug in clinical medicine.
451489	Plasma salicylate levels in rheumatoid arthritis: a comparison between micro-encapsulated	1979	Ten patients with rheumatoid arthritis were given identical amounts of conventional aspirin (Magnecyl) tablets and micro-encapsulated aspirin (Reumyl) capsules. Steady-state salicylate levels were determined after 4 days' treatment at 8 a.m., 12 noon, 4 p.m., 10 p.m. and again at 8 a.m. No difference was noted between the levels at 12 noon or 4 p.m. The 10 p.m. levels were slightly though not significantly higher and the last set of 8 a.m. levels were significantly higher during the capsule administration. A criterion for inclusion was good tolerance of Magnecyl. The clinical effectiveness was not evaluated, but the observed good absorption features of Reumyl indicate that this preparation may prove to be of value in long-term treatment.
365326	Correlations of clinical and laboratory effects of treatment with levamisole in autoimmune	1978 Nov	Studies in which levamisole has been used with success in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases may provide information useful in cancer treatment with regard to optimal dosage regimens and methods for monitoring laboratory effects. Using the response of peripheral blood lymphocytes to phytohemagglutinin mitogen measured by the uptake of tritiated thymidine in 3-day culture, patients with rheumatoid arthritis were found to have a significantly deficient response compared to normal subjects. Levamisole treatment reversed this deficiency and normalized lymphocyte mitogen responses. These studies showed the benefit of a dose of 150 mg of levamisole compared to lower doses and also showed equal maintenance of immunocompetency with a dose of 150 mg/week compared to daily levamisole. In addition, compared to poor clinical responders, good clinical responders were shown to have a greater enhancement in mitogen response, both during the treatment period and when levamisole was added in vitro to lymphocyte culture prior to drug treatment. It was concluded that laboratory studies of lymphocyte mitogen response may contribute towards better management of patients receiving levamisole therapy.
7259332	A comparison of serum biochemistry in ankylosing spondylitis, seronegative and seropositiv	1981 Aug	The serum biochemistry of 31 patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) was compared with that of 80 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (ARA criteria), 30 of whom were negative for circulating rheumatoid factor and 50 of whom were 'seropositive'. All patients were selected because of moderate to severe disease activity. All 3 groups had distinctive biochemical profiles. Total serum sulphydryl and haemoglobin were particularly good discriminators between AS and RA, IgG, IgA, and acute-phase reactants complemented the sheep cell agglutination test in discriminating between seropositive RA and seronegative RA. In active AS a normal erythrocyte sedimentation rate was often seen in the presence of abnormal C-reactive protein (CRP) and plasma viscosity.
6847722	IgG and IgM rheumatoid factors in rheumatoid arthritis. Quantitative response to penicilla	1983 May	Penicillamine treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) leads to falling titers of agglutinating IgM rheumatoid factor (RF), but its effect on IgG RF has not been described. Using specific solid phase radioimmunoassays, we have determined serial levels of IgM RF and IgG RF in 18 patients receiving penicillamine for 1 year, and correlated the results with the change in RA activity. Mean IgM RF levels fell to 76 +/- 10% (mean +/- SEM) after 3 months, and 30 +/- 5% of the pretreatment value after 1 year of penicillamine treatment. This decline was greater than that for total IgM (P less than 0.0001), indicating a selective reduction of RF. Patients receiving maintenance doses of 750 mg/day manifested more rapid and greater decreases than did those given 250 mg/day. In contrast, serial mean IgG RF levels did not change significantly, and actually increased in 6 of 18 cases. At onset, there was a significant correlation with erythrocyte sedimentation rate for both IgM RF (r = 0.535, P = 0.05) and IgG RF levels (r = 0.570, P = 0.02). But changes in RF concentration demonstrated no correlation with changes in either erythrocyte sedimentation rate or joint score over the 1-year period, suggesting that circulating IgM RF or IgG RF levels may be unrelated to the degree of RA activity.
3909406	Acupuncture for rheumatoid arthritis: an analysis of the literature.	1985 May	Despite the claims that acupuncture is beneficial in the treatment of stages I and II rheumatoid arthritis (RA), few satisfactory double-blind controlled studies exist. A review of the world literature showed eight studies examining the efficacy of acupuncture in RA. Five studies claim that acupuncture treatments give significant pain relief. Two studies claim that there is no significant difference between real and placebo acupuncture in RA. One study claims that acupuncture has antiinflammatory effects. Analysis of problems related to study design demonstrates that methodological flaws invalidate in varying degrees the broad spectrum of conclusions. The need for a more effective therapeutic armamentarium in the treatment of RA makes it imperative that satisfactory trials of acupuncture for RA be conducted in the future.
165855	Peripheral neuropathy and indomethacin.	1975 Apr 12	A patient with seronegative inflammatory polyarthritis developed a predominantly motorperipheral neuropathy associated with the use of indomethacin. Three other cases of peripheral neuropathy associated with indomethacin treatment have been reported to the Committee on Safety of Medicines. In all cases the neuropathy regressed when indomethacinwas stopped. Peripheral neuropathy should be recognized as a rare complication of indomethacin therapy and considered in the differential diagnosis of a neuropathy accompanyingrheumatoid arthritis.
159488	[Study of the allogenic reactivity and suppression function of lymphocytes, in rheumatoid	1979 May	In a group of 30 rheumatoid polyarthritis treated with gold salts, a determination of the T lymphocytes (sheep red cells) furnished in percentage normal values, and in absolute value a normal average value, with, however, a low level of T lymphocytes. In autologous lymphocyte cultures no spontaneous increase of DNA synthesis was registered. The allogenic response was normal, and in mixed culture with the addition of a third type of cells, a discrete specific suppressive activity appeared.
7184144	Apatites in heterotopic calcifications.	1982	Calcified material obtained from three patients suffering from calcifications of the shoulder tendon sheath and from a subcutaneous with calcinosis was studied. A panel of different techniques was applied to this study: scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, infrared spectrometry, scanning and transmission wavelength dispersive X-ray spectrometry, high resolution transmission electron microscopy and electron microdiffraction. These calcifications, made of carbonate containing apatite, are heterogeneous and composed of at least two separate phases the crystallinity of which appear different.
681408	The Stanmore hinged knee arthroplasty.	1978 Aug	The Stanmore hinged total knee replacement was introduced in 1969 for severe destructive arthropathy of the knee, and the results of one hundred consecutive operations are presented after an average interval of two and a half years. Insertion of the prosthesis relieved pain in 94 per cent, improved the range of movement in 67 per cent, invariably restored stability and corrected valgus or varus deformity. Gross flexion contractures were improved but not always fully corrected. Serious complications were few, though of three cases of deep infection two came to amputation and one to fibrous ankylosis. There were no mechanical failures of components of the prosthesis.
1080362	Role of splenectomy in Felty's syndrome.	1975 Jul	To evaluate the effectiveness of splenectomy in the treatment of Felty's syndrome (association of rheumatoid arthritis, leukopenia, and splenomegaly), such experience from 1968 to 1972 at the University of Alabama Medical Center in Birmingham was analyzed. There were five patients with Felty's syndrome who underwent splenectomy. In all five patients, there was no operative morbidity, no blood transfusions were required, and leukopenia and susceptibility to infection were greatly improved; neutropenia disappeared in all but one patient. Splenectomy appears to benefit most patients with Felty's syndrome.