Search results for "rheumatology"
showing 10 items of 851 documents
Potential involvement of IL-22 and IL-22-producing cells in the inflamed salivary glands of patients with Sjogren's syndrome.
2012
OBJECTIVES: In chronic inflammatory disorders, interleukin (IL)-22 may act either as a protective or as a pro-inflammatory cytokine. At mucosal sites, IL-22 is mainly produced by CD4(+) T cells and by a subset of mucosal natural killer (NK) cells expressing the receptor NKp44 (NKp44(+) NK cells). The aim of this study was to investigate the IL-22 expression in the salivary glands of patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS). METHODS: Minor salivary gland biopsies were obtained from 19 patients with pSS and 16 with non-specific chronic sialoadenitis. Quantitative gene expression analysis by TaqMan real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry for IL-17, IL-22, IL-23 and STAT3 (signal transduce…
Possible misclassification of cardiovascular risk by SCORE in antisynthetase syndrome: results of the pilot multicenter study RI.CAR.D.A
2020
Abstract Objectives To test the ability of an established traditional cardiovascular (CV) risk prediction score [Systematic COronary Risk Evaluation (SCORE)] and its EULAR modified version (mSCORE) to identify antisynthetase syndrome (ASyS) patients at high CV risk and to examine for the first time associations of CV and cerebrovascular surrogate markers with clinical and immunological ASyS parameters. Methods SCORE/mSCORE and the gold standard marker of aortic stiffness [carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV)] were examined in ASyS patients and healthy controls. Moreover, sonography of the common- (CCA) and internal- (ICA) carotid arteries was performed in subsets of both groups, eval…
Long-term anti-tumour necrosis factor therapy reverses the progression of carotid intima–media thickness in female patients with active rheumatoid ar…
2009
The objective of the study is to evaluate the effect of TNF inhibition on carotid thickness over a 2-year period. 144 women with RA diagnosed according to ACR criteria, without clinical evidence of cardiac and/or vascular disease were enrolled and compared with 78 matched controls. All patients received methotrexate (15–20 mg weekly) for 3 months. Responders (n = 79) continued to be treated with methotrexate, non-responders (n = 40) moved to methotrexate plus a TNF alpha antagonist. Echosonographic studies of carotids were obtained before and after 2-year follow-up. A significant decrease of ca-IMT was observed in anti-TNF-treated patients (P < 0.001); on the other hand, no significant vari…
Reproducibility of imaging human knee cartilage by delayed gadolinium-enhanced MRI of cartilage (dGEMRIC) at 1.5 Tesla
2009
Summary Objective The purpose of this study was to investigate the day-to-day reproducibility of the delayed gadolinium-enhanced MRI of cartilage (dGEMRIC) measurement at different knee joint surfaces in healthy subjects at 1.5 Tesla (T). Methods The dGEMRIC experiment was repeated for 10 asymptomatic volunteers three times with an average interval of 5 days between scans. The measurement was performed from a single sagittal slice through the center of the lateral femoral condyle and from the center of the patella in the axial plane. Cartilage was manually segmented into superficial, deep and full-thickness regions of interests (ROIs) at different topographical locations of the femur, tibia…
Evaluation of the Arthritis Impact Measurement Scales (AIMS2) in Finnish patients with rheumatoid arthritis
2003
Objective: To evaluate the validity and reliability of the Finnish version of the Arthritis Impact Measurement Scales (AIMS2) in Finnish patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).Methods: The reliability of the Finnish AIMS2 (Finn‐AIMS2) questionnaire was assessed by test–retest procedure and internal consistency of health‐status scales. Construct validity was assessed by factor analysis, and convergent validity by correlation coefficients, with several disease activity and functional status variables.Results: Internal consistency was 0.79–0.89 and test–retest reliability 0.72–0.97. Factor analysis identified three factors: physical, psychosocial, and pain. There were strong correlations betw…
A 588-gene microarray analysis of the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of spondyloarthropathy patients
2002
OBJECTIVES: To identify genes which are more highly expressed in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of patients with spondyloarthropathy (SpA), rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA), in comparison to normal subjects. METHODS: A 588-gene microarray was used as a screening tool to select a panel of such genes from PBMC of these subjects and of normal subjects. Results were then validated by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). RESULTS: The following genes were more highly expressed in arthritis patients than in normal subjects: macrophage differentiation marker MNDA (myeloid nuclear differentiation antigen), MRP8 and MRP14 (migratory inhibitor…
Stability of the upper neck during isometric neck exercises in rheumatoid arthritis patients with atlantoaxial disorders.
2008
To study the effect of isometric neck strength exercises on upper cervical stability in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).Twenty patients with a mean (SD) age of 58 (9) years and duration of RA of 27 (10) years volunteered for the study. Lateral radiographs of the cervical spine were taken to measure the current atlantoaxial distance (AAD) in flexion and extension. Maximal isometric neck flexion and extension strength values were measured by a dynamometer. Thereafter, AADs were measured from radiographs taken at 80-90% resistance of maximal strength.According to the full flexion radiographs at baseline, the patients were classified into three groups: eight patients without anterior at…
Kinematic parameters after tibial nonunion treatment using the Ilizarov method
2021
Abstract Background Analysis of the outcomes of Ilizarov treatment of tibial nonunion shows functional deficits in the lower limbs of some patients. Biomechanical gait parameters are an important measure for assessing musculoskeletal disorder treatments that aim to restore normal gait. The purpose of our study was to compare the kinematic parameters in patients with tibial nonunion treated using the Ilizarov method and those in a control group of healthy volunteers. Methods The study population consisted of 23 patients (age 54.9 ± 16.4 years) who were treated for tibial nonunion using the Ilizarov method, as well as 22 healthy adult controls (age 52.7 ± 10.6 years). Kinematic parameters wer…
Disparities in the prevalence of clinical features between systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis and adult-onset Still's disease
2022
Abstract Objective To compare clinical features and treatments of patients with systemic JIA (sIJA) and adult-onset Still’s disease (AOSD). Methods The clinical charts of consecutive patients with sJIA by International League of Association of Rheumatology criteria or AOSD by Yamaguchi criteria were reviewed. Patients were seen at a large paediatric rheumatology referral centre or at 10 adult rheumatology academic centres. Data collected included clinical manifestations, inflammation biomarkers, systemic score, macrophage activation syndrome (MAS), parenchymal lung disease, disease course, disability, death and medications administered. Results A total of 166 patients (median age at diagnos…
Proinflammatory CX3CR1+CD59+Tumor Necrosis Factor–Like Molecule 1A+Interleukin‐23+ Monocytes Are Expanded in Patients With Ankylosing Spondylitis and…
2018
Objective: Gut-derived innate lymphoid cell 3 (ILC3) has been shown to participate in the pathogenesis of ankylosing spondylitis (AS). CX3CR1+ mononuclear phagocytes (MNPs) have been demonstrated to modulate ILC3 function in the gut. This study was undertaken to investigate the role of proinflammatory CX3CR1+CD59+ MNPs in modulating ILC3 function in AS patients. Methods: MNP subsets in the blood of AS patients and controls were analyzed by flow cytometry. The presence of CX3CR1+CD59+ cells in tissue was confirmed by confocal microscopy. Expression of the proinflammatory chemokines CX3CL1 and CCL2 and decoy receptor 6 (DcR-6) was analyzed. Peripheral CX3CR1+CD59+ cells were cocultured with I…