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

ID PMID Title PublicationDate abstract
6230314 Marker and functional characterization of immunoregulatory cells in rheumatoid arthritis. 1983 In 34 patients with rheumatoid arthritis we determined the regulatory index OKT 4: OKT 8 and the suppressor index delta 24: delta 0. There is no correlation between the results of the detection of subpopulations with monoclonal antibodies and of the functional test to determine the suppressor activity. The enhanced mitogen-induced proliferation after 24-h preincubation is regularly associated with a rise in the regulatory index; however, without convincing quantitative correlation. It can be concluded, that only a small portion of the cell population identified by monoclonal antibodies OKT 4 and OKT 8 exerts helper or suppressor activities. At present, identification of regulatory T-cell subpopulation should be complemented by functional tests.
6191991 The acute phase response and its relation to amyloid A degrading activity in serum of pati 1983 Feb The sequential changes in the concentration of specific serum proteins and their relation to amyloid A degrading activity were studied in ten patients with rheumatoid arthritis undergoing arthroplasty of the knee or hip. Serum amyloid A protein increased from a preoperative level of 78 +/- 20 gm/l (mean +/- SEM) to a peak level of 623 +/- 93 mg/l on the third postoperative day (P less than 0.001). The serum amyloid A protein response was greater than that of any other protein including C-reactive protein, to which it was closely related (r = 0.84, P less than 0.001). The concentrations of alpha 1-antitrypsin and alpha 1-antichymotrypsin were highest on the fourth postoperative day (mean changes + 35%, P less than 0.01, and +44%, P less than 0.05, respectively). Serum albumin, pre-albumin and alpha 2-macroglobulin behaved like negative acute phase reactants; the concentrations of albumin and alpha 2-macroglobulin were significantly decreased from the second to sixth and seventh postoperative days, respectively, and the concentration of pre-albumin was significantly decreased on the third and fourth postoperative days. A significant fall in the amyloid A degrading activity of serum occurred during the acute phase reaction. The degradative activity was lowest on the third and fourth postoperative days (P less than 0.001). The results show that the acute phase state in patients with rheumatoid arthritis induces a rise in the concentration of serum amyloid A protein, the putative serum precursor of tissue amyloid A fibrils, and a concomitant reduction in the ability of serum to degrade these fibrils. These factors together may be important in the development of inflammation-associated amyloidosis.
6975378 Coexistence of HLA-B27 ankylosing spondylitis and DR4 seropositive nodular rheumatoid arth 1981 Jul A case of definite ankylosing spondylitis (AS), classical rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and membranous nephropathy is presented. Concurrent presence of the HLA-B27 and HLA-DR4 antigens was demonstrated. The association of AS and RA as well as RA and membranous nephropathy are discussed and the literature reviewed.
7073342 Scleroderma and erosive polyarthritis: a disease entity? 1982 Apr We describe 4 patients with scleroderma in whom a major clinical feature was a deforming, erosive polyarthritis accompanied by positive tests for rheumatoid factor. In all but 1 case the skin involvement preceded joint symptoms, and in some cases there was evidence of systemic involvement. This destructive arthritis may represent the coexistence of 2 diseases or an extreme form of the inflammatory arthritis seen in scleroderma. Alternatively, the clinical presentation may represent an 'overlap syndrome' with features of both scleroderma and rheumatoid arthritis.
7453086 Interaction of circulating immune complexes with granulocyte function in patients with rhe 1980 Jul 15 The sera and peripheral blood granulocytes of 10 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and of 10 healthy controls were investigated for the presence of soluble immune complexes and for cellular dysfunction. Using the Rajicell-radioimmunoassay, immune complexes were detected in 7 out of 10 rheumatoid sera. In one patient the presence of immune complexes was demonstrated by immunofluorescence. In all rheumatoid patients with circulating immune complexes decreased chemotactic reactivity and diminished bactericidal capacity of the neutrophils were observed. Incubation of rheumatoid granulocytes with pooled AB-serum or pretreatment of neutrophils of healthy controls with immune complexes containing rheumatoid sera resulted in a reduced number of comparable cellular dysfunctions including increased release of lysosomal enzymes, strongly correlated with the presence of intracellular phagocytosed immune complexes. Phagocytosis and increase of oxidative cell metabolism during phagocytosis were not influenced by circulating immune complexes. Based on our in vitro findings we suggest that the described immune complex-dependent granulocyte dysfunctions are possible responsible for the high risk of local or systemic bacterial diseases in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
6988116 Association of severe rheumatoid arthritis with heterozygosity for alpha 1-antitrypsin def 1980 Feb Genetic types of alpha 1-antitrypsin (protease inhibitor types, or Pi types) were determined in 108 patients with rheumatoid arthritis. These patients were selected for severely destructive disease and had classical rheumatoid arthritis according to ARA criteria, were seropositive, and had joint erosions shown by X-ray. Heterozygotes for the deficiency Z allele (Pi types MZ, SZ, etc.) were found among 9.2% of patients and 3.5% of a control adult population. The increased frequency in patients was statistically significant. Heterozygotes were most frequent among female patients with an early onset of disease. Heterozygosity for alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency may be a factor in familial recurrence of rheumatoid arthritis. Among 98 patients with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis not selected for severity, 4.1% were Z heterozygotes compared with 1.3% of control children, not a statistically significant difference. Reduced concentrations of alpha 1-antitrypsin in Z heterozygotes may be inadequate to inhibit the proteolytic enzymes released into the joints of adults with rheumatoid arthritis during phagocytosis of immune complexes. This may be a factor promoting severe joint destruction.
609329 [Rheumatoid arthritis and morbidity among wet spinning factory women workers]. 1977 Two hundred ninety women employed in the wet spinning mill of the linen plants have been examined. Their average age and duration of employment were respectively 45 and 17,5 years. Examined women worked in specific microclimate including temperature from 24 degrees C to 25.3 degrees C and the moisture of air from 63,5 to 72,5%. Rheumatoid Arthritis in women working in wet spinning factory was the aim of this examination. It has been stated that these surroundings have no influence on that sort of disease.
4717913 Induction of autologous lymphocyte transformation by synovial fluids from patients with rh 1973 Jun Appropriately diluted synovial fluids from thirteen of eighteen patients with rheumatoid arthritis induced in vitro transformation of autologous peripheral blood lymphocytes. By contrast, no significant transformation of autologous lymphocytes was induced by ten of eleven synovial fluids from patients without rheumatoid arthritis. These studies suggest that a similar blastogenic response in vivo may perpetuate subsynovial lymphoid hyperplasia and chronic synovitis in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
10258850 Analysis of education-support groups for patients with rheumatoid arthritis. 1983 A controlled study of education-support groups for patients with rheumatoid arthritis showed that participation increased patients' knowledge about their disease (P less than 0.05) and improved some patients' perceptions of the adequacy of their families' attitudes and behavior. The groups had little effect on the patients' ability to cope with arthritis or on their compliance with prescribed treatment. Some participants felt threatened by the thought of meeting another patient with more severe rheumatoid arthritis than their own. This finding suggests that group leaders should facilitate open discussion of such emotional concerns, eg, fear and depression, that admixtures may generate.
6983335 Transcutaneous nerve stimulation in rheumatoid arthritis. 1982 Dec This study of the effects of transcutaneous nerve stimulation (TNS) on 20 wrists of 11 men with rheumatoid arthritis was designd to make an objective assessment of pain and also to evaluate placebo effects. Following determinations of the length of time each wrist could support a small weight before pain began or increased (loading time), a 3-part test was conducted using the same weight in each case. (1) Each wrist was treated by TNS for 15 minutes and then, with the stimulator still on, loading time was determined (TNS-1). (2) With the stimulator working on the same wrist as for TNS-1, the loading time of the opposite wrist was determined (TNS-2). (3) To study placebo effect, loading time was again determined with the same adjustment on the stimulator but with the battery removed (TNS-3). If the loading time doubled or more, the pain relief was considered to be 100%. From the results (70% of the TNS-1 wrists had 50 to 100% pain relief; 10% of the TNS-2 and 15% of the TNS-3 wrists had some improvement), TNS appears to reduce joint pain and to offer a supplement to antiinflammatory drugs.
4051588 Statistical reappraisal of the clinical significance of nail beading in rheumatoid arthrit 1985 Oct Nail beading has previously been reported as an accompaniment of rheumatoid arthritis. In order to assess the clinical significance of this form of nychodystrophy the fingernails and toenails of 119 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and an equal number of control subjects were studied. Analysis of data based on 4642 nails indicates that the presence of a global pattern of beading (i.e. greater than or equal to 50% involvement of the nail area) on the surface of at least six fingernails or four toenails is highly suggestive of underlying rheumatoid disease. The positive predictive value of these configurations is in the order of 95%. Nail beading, however, is infrequent in early disease and therefore its diagnostic value is limited. Although there is a strong association between nail beading and rheumatoid arthritis, the aetiology and prognostic implications of this clinical sign remain obscure.
447412 A comparison of two in vitro methods for studying a defect in leucocyte movement in rheuma 1979 Filter and agarose plate techniques have been used to study an abnormality of polymorphonuclear leucocyte movement in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The chemotactic response of normal cells towards activated rheumatoid plasma was significantly less than that towards activated control plasma when examined in Boyden chambers. This defect was not observed using the agarose plate method where the response of both control and rheumatoid cells towards activated rheumatoid plasma was identical. The existence of the plasma defect, which has been shown to be cell-directed, would not have been apparent had the agarose plate method been used alone. The choice of suitable in vitro methodologies for studying leucocyte movement in pathological conditions is therefore of some importance.
103181 Comparison of two maintenance schedules of chrysotherapy in rheumatoid arthritis: prelimin 1978 Comparison of maintenance injections of sodium aurothiomalate given at two-week or four-week intervals revealed no significant clinical or radiological differences over a six-month period. Higher serum gold levels were achieved with the more frequent injections and these were associated with a more pronounced fall of ESR during maintenance therapy. Whether this has any special implications for the subsequent progress of patients treated by the two regimes remains to be determined.
6083988 Autoimmune type I reactions directed against nuclear components in rheumatoid arthritis. 1984 Basophil histamine release was examined in leucocyte suspensions from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) after challenge of the cells with isolated and sonicated leucocyte nuclei from normal individuals. Most of the patients with active disease responded with significant histamine release, whereas no response was obtained in the inactive patients and in normal controls. A similar pattern was found in the urinary excretion of the main metabolite of histamine, NT-methyl-imidazoleacetic acid, since an increased excretion was observed in most patients with severe disease activity in contrast to patients with moderate and quiescent activity and the control group. These findings strongly indicate an involvement of autoimmune allergic type I reactions in RA. The release of histamine and other mediators from basophils and mast cells may cooperate in the inflammatory reactions and the destruction of the joints in RA.
7089500 Pulmonary function in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. 1982 106 women and 38 men suffering from definite or classical rheumatoid arthritis underwent a pulmonary function test. The results were correlated to the duration and various clinical activity parameters of the disease. Pulmonary diffusion capacity was found to be reduced compared with the predicted values (p less than 0.05), irrespective of the duration or activity of the disease. The findings suggest that inflammatory vascular changes in the lungs usually occur in rheumatoid arthritis even in cases where other extraarticular manifestations can usually not be demonstrated.
1210794 [Subchondral osteonecroses of large joints in rheumatoid arthritis]. 1975 Nov The frequency and preferred localisation of overt subchondral osteonecrosis in large joints have been studied in a roentgenological and clinical study. Among 619 patients (454 female, 165 male) a severe subchondral osteonecrosis was found 44 times on one or more (maximum 3) large joints of 30 patients. The hip and shoulder joints were most frequently attacked, while patients with an advanced stage or longer duration of the disease and those in the middle age groups showed this most often. Osteonecrosis did not necessarily correlate with the activity of the disease process and with the presence of a positive rheumatoid factor. Radiologically, osteolytic appearances are seen most often in the elbow and osteochondritis dissecans in the knee joint. In the hip and shoulder joint the appearances are those of reparative states with a distinct demarcation, more rarely a severe osteolysis also involving the adjacent skeletal parts, occasionally a diffuse irregular lytic osteoporosis and necrosis. The pathogenesis is discussed in detail.
1166280 Thermographic evaluation of intra-articular treatment with radioactive yttrium (90Y) in 62 1975 A total of 62 rheumatoid knee joints were treated with intra-articular 90Y. Results were assessed by clinical, roentgenologic and thermographic examination after a six-month follow-up. The majority of the joints had moderate roentgenologic manifestations of RA before treatment. The roentgenologic stage of the disease did not change during the follow-up period. The thermographic heat emission pattern was pathologic in all cases prior to treatment. The clinical cure and improvement in the thermographic pattern were in agreement in 44 of 50 completely examined cases (88%). The thermographic pattern was unchanged or worse in six knees with a clinically satisfactory anti-inflammatory response. This is probably due to remaining deeper inflammatory activity or to the relatively short observation period of six months, during which time only the clinical symptoms disappeared, while hyperthermy based on increased vascularity remained. The thermographic pattern remained pathologic in all knees without a clinical response to 90Y. Thermography is a safe and reliable complementary method for recording the anti-inflammatory effect of irradiation synovectomy on rheumatoid knees.
7457195 Abnormal axillary lymph nodes in rheumatoid arthritis. 1980 Mammary radiography was performed in 56 patients with arthritis, predominantly rheumatoid arthritis. Definite abnormal axillary lymph nodes were found in 24 and probably abnormal nodes in 8. Abnormal nodes were characterized by increased attenuation, rounded shape and absence of fatty replacement.
7274964 [Treatment of flexion contracture of the knee joint in rheumatoid arthritis]. 1981 Feb 12 In 45 patients with rheumatoid arthritis 55 posterior capsulotomies with extension of the bicipital tendon were performed since 1973, using the method described by Wilson (1929), Herbert (1950) and Gschwend (1977). 35 patients with 45 operated knee joints could be followed up. The follow-up period was 6 months to 6 years. In more than 80% of the cases an improvement of extensibility over 20 degrees as well as of walking distance and security of gait could be achieved. Pain was relieved in the same proportion and, likewise, the patients' dependence on walking aids.
894642 Depression in rheumatoid arthritis. 1977 Jul We have examined 144 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and found a high prevalence of depression, which has not previously been reported.It is probable that good practitioners who see patients at home acquire a better understanding of the social and psychological aspects of such an illness. The presence of depression was statistically significant when associated with the articular index, the degree of functional impairment, and with dependence on others, but not with many other medical and social factors.