0000000000248485
AUTHOR
Rodolfo Bignone
T2 Mapping of the Sacroiliac Joints in Patients with Axial Spondyloarthritis
Purpose: To test whether T2 mapping of the sacro-iliac joints (SIJs) might help identifying patients with spondyloarthritis. Method: This study included 20 biologic-naive patients with axial spondyloarthritis (10 females; mean age: 38 ± 9years; range, 19–47) and 27 controls (16 males; mean age = 39 ± 13years; range = 28–71) who prospectively underwent SIJs MRI at 1.5 T, including a multislice multiecho spin-echo sequence. Standard MRIs were reviewed to assess the SIJs according to the Assessment of SpondyloArthritis International Society (ASAS) criteria and SPondyloArthritis Research Consortium of Canada (SPARCC) MRI index. T2 maps obtained from multiecho sequences were used to draw regions…
FRI0162 IL-9 Over-Expression and Th9 Polarization Immunologically Characterizes the Subclinical Gut Inflammation of Patients with Psoriatic Arthritis
Background Subclinical gut inflammation has been demonstrated in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) suggesting a role for the gut in the pathogenesis of inflammation in these patients. A key role for the IL-23, IL-17, IL-22 and IL-9 in the pathogenesis of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis has been suggested, the immunologic abnormalities underlying subclinical gut inflammation in PsA are still undefined however. Objectives This study was undertaken to investigate the expression and tissue distribution of IL-23 and of Th17,Th22 and Th9 related molecules in the subclinical gut inflammation of patients with PsA. Methods Gut inflammation was assessed accordingly to De Vos et al (1). Quanti…
Interleukin-9 Overexpression and Th9 Polarization Characterize the Inflamed Gut, the Synovial Tissue, and the Peripheral Blood of Patients With Psoriatic Arthritis
Objective To investigate the expression and tissue distribution of Th9-related cytokines in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Methods Quantitative gene expression analysis of Th1, Th17, and Th9 cytokines was performed in intestinal biopsy samples obtained from patients with PsA, HLA-B27-positive patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), patients with Crohn's disease (CD), and healthy controls. Expression and tissue distribution of interleukin-23 (IL-23), IL-17, IL-22, IL-9, and IL-9 receptor (IL-9R) were evaluated by immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy. Flow cytometry was used to study the frequency of Th9 cells among peripheral blood, lamina propria, and synovial fluid mon…
Clinical efficacy of α4 integrin block with natalizumab in ankylosing spondylitis
We describe the impact of α4-β1/7 blockade with natalizumab, a recombinant humanised immunoglobulin (Ig) G4κ monoclonal antibody (mAb) targeted to the α4 subunit of the α4β1 and α4β7 integrins, on the gut and spine inflammation in a patient with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) who developed multiple sclerosis after treatment with tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-blocking agents. A 45-year-old man with human leucocyte antigen (HLA)-B27-positive AS was admitted in January 2007. He had been diagnosed with AS 4 years earlier based on the presence of inflammatory back pain, peripheral arthritis, radiographic bilateral grade 2 sacroiliitis, HLA-B27 positivity. At that time, he had evidence of chronic int…
Diffusion-weighted imaging in oncology: An update
To date, diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) is included in routine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) protocols for several cancers. The real additive role of DWI lies in the “functional” information obtained by probing the free diffusivity of water molecules into intra and inter-cellular spaces that in tumors mainly depend on cellularity. Although DWI has not gained much space in some oncologic scenarios, this non-invasive tool is routinely used in clinical practice and still remains a hot research topic: it has been tested in almost all cancers to differentiate malignant from benign lesions, to distinguish different malignant histotypes or tumor grades, to predict and/or assess treatment resp…
IL-9 IN PsA
Objective. To investigate the expression and tis- sue distribution of Th9-related cytokines in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Methods. Quantitative gene expression analysis of Th1, Th17, and Th9 cytokines was performed in intestinal biopsy samples obtained from patients with PsA, HLA2B272positive patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), patients with Crohn’s disease (CD), and healthy controls. Expression and tissue distribu- tion of interleukin-23 (IL-23), IL-17, IL-22, IL-9, and IL-9 receptor (IL-9R) were evaluated by immunohisto- chemistry and confocal microscopy. Flow cytometry was used to study the frequency of Th9 cells among periph- eral blood, lamina propria, and synovial…
T2-mapping of the sacroiliac joints at 1.5 Tesla: a feasibility and reproducibility study
Objective: To evaluate the reproducibility of T2 relaxation time measurements of the sacroiliac joints at 1.5 T. Materials and methods: Healthy volunteers underwent an oblique axial multislice multiecho spin-echo sequence of the sacroiliac joints at 1.5 T. Regions of interest were manually drawn using a dedicated software by two musculoskeletal radiologists to include the cartilaginous part of the sacroiliac joints. A senior radiologist performed the measurement twice, while a resident measured once. Intra- and inter-observer reproducibility was tested using the Bland-Altman method. Association between sex and T2 relaxation times was tested using the Mann-Whitney U test. Correlation between…