This prospective, longitudinal cohort study recruited 68 consecutive SSc patients (group #1: 32 established disease (ACR, American College of Rheumatology /EULAR, The European League against Rheumatism 2013 and ACR 1980 criteria fulfilled); group #2: 24 early disease (only ACR/EULAR 2013 fulfilled); group #3: 12 very early disease (clinical expert diagnosis of SSc) and 72 healthy controls.
We explore the involvement of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α)-converting enzyme (TACE) in vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptor 2 (VEGFR2) (VEGF-A/VEGFR2)-mediated angiogenesis in Sjögren's syndrome (SS), one of the most common autoimmune rheumatic diseases.
Concentrations of anti-MCV, anti-CCP2, and rheumatoid factors (RF) were determined in the sera of 237 individuals: 119 patients with RA and 118 controls, including patients with other rheumatic diseases and healthy subjects.
Patients with RA had significantly higher serum IgA and IgM anti-CCP2 antibody levels than healthy subjects and patients with other rheumatic diseases (p<0.0001).
Flow cytometric detection of p38 MAPK phosphorylation and intracellular cytokine expression in peripheral blood subpopulations from patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases.
Flow cytometric detection of p38 MAPK phosphorylation and intracellular cytokine expression in peripheral blood subpopulations from patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases.
Gamma gap is the difference in total serum proteins and albumin and an elevated gamma gap is related to infections, malignancy, and rheumatic diseases.
In this study, we show that APRIL and BLyS can form active heterotrimeric molecules when coexpressed and that circulating heterotrimers are present in serum samples from patients with systemic immune-based rheumatic diseases.
Serum samples obtained from 88 children with various forms of juvenile rheumatic disease and from 40 adults with systemic lupus erythematosus, the antiphospholipid syndrome, or other rheumatic disease, who had previously been tested and shown to be positive for IgG aPL, were analyzed for the presence of B19 DNA, for antibodies against the B19 viral proteins VP1, VP2, and NS1, and for IgG aPL (anticardiolipin, anti-beta(2)-glycoprotein I, and antiphosphatidylserine).
Recent investigations on the mechanisms of ANA production in the rheumatic diseases suggest that these responses frequently emerge in the setting of nonspecific immunoregulatory disturbances.
An IFN signature is seen in a significant proportion of ANA<sup>+</sup> individuals and appears to be associated with ANA titre and type of autoantibodies, rather than with the presence or development of clinical SARD symptoms.
Not surprisingly, total and partial deficiencies of certain complement components and C3b receptors are associated with rheumatic diseases, particularly systemic lupus erythematosus.
Calpastatin is the natural inhibitor of calpains, which are members of the cysteine proteinases recently implicated in joint destruction in rheumatic diseases.
Antibodies reacting with the calpastatin amino-terminal region are produced during systemic rheumatic diseases and are predominantly directed against domain I.
In this study, variation screening of the entire coding regions of CCR3 and CCR4 was performed, and possible association with several autoimmune diseases was tested, using the genomic DNA from 304 Japanese healthy individuals and 272 Japanese patients with rheumatic diseases.