| 11. |
- Uddhammar, A, et al.
(författare)
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Cytokines and adhesion molecules in patients with polymyalgia rheumatica
- 1998
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Ingår i: British Journal of Rheumatology. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0263-7103 .- 1460-2172. ; 37:7, s. 766-769
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Serum levels of interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta), IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra), tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), IL-6, soluble IL-6 receptor (sIL-6R), soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) and soluble E-selectin were measured in 15 patients with newly diagnosed polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) before and after 3 months of corticosteroid therapy. Both IL-6 and IL-1ra were significantly increased in untreated PMR and remained elevated compared with controls during therapy, although significantly only for sIL-1ra. sICAM-1 was raised in 12/15 (87%) patients at diagnosis and remained high in 10/14 (71%) patients; soluble E-selectin levels were initially raised in 6/15 (40%) patients and decreased with therapy in those with the highest levels. IL-6, IL-1ra and sICAM-1 are sensitive indicators of continuing immunological activation in PMR; the advantages of these markers in assessing the response to therapy should be investigated in a longitudinal study.
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| 12. |
- Westermark, T, et al.
(författare)
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Increase in bombesin-like peptides in the spinal cord after dexamethasone treatment of adrenalectomized rats
- 1999
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Ingår i: Neuroscience Letters. - 0304-3940 .- 1872-7972. ; 275:3, s. 179-182
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The potential influence of corticosteroids on the bombesin (BN)-like peptide family is unknown. Therefore, the effects of adrenalectomy (ADX) on the nervous system of Sprague-Dawley rats, some of them being treated with high doses of the synthetic glucocorticoid dexamethasone (DEX), were investigated. After 8-10 days of treatment, the rats were sacrificed and tissues were prepared for radioimmunoassay (RIA) and immunohistochemical examination. We found an increase in BN-like immunoreactivity in the superficial layers of the dorsal horn of the lumbar spinal cord in the ADX + DEX animals. This increase was confirmed by RIA (P < 0.05). The observations show that the expression of BN-like peptides is influenced by glucocorticoids. The altered levels of BN-like peptides may be related to the trophic and antinociceptive effects previously reported for these peptides. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
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| 13. |
- Wållberg-Jonsson, Solveig, 1953-, et al.
(författare)
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Extent of inflammation predicts cardiovascular disease and overall mortality in seropositive rheumatoid arthritis : A retrospective cohort study from disease onset
- 1999
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Ingår i: Journal of Rheumatology. - Toronto, Canada : University of Toronto Publishing. - 0315-162X .- 1499-2752. ; 26:12, s. 2562-2571
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: To identify predictors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and for overall survival in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) followed from disease onset. METHODS: A retrospective cohort of patients with seropositive RA and disease onset between 1974 and 1978 (n = 211) was followed up at the end of 1995. Potential predictors for CVD, as measured by "the first cardiovascular event," and for overall survival were registered. The predictors were identified by extended Cox regression models. RESULTS: In simple Cox regression analysis, male sex, higher age at disease onset, HLA-B27, high disease activity, corticosteroid treatment early in disease, and hypertension significantly increased risk of cardiovascular event. Higher educational level, extensive disease modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) treatment, and corticosteroids > or =1 yr before event decreased the risk. In multiple Cox regression analysis, male sex, high age at disease onset, hypertension, higher haptoglobin level at disease onset, and corticosteroid treatment early in disease increased risk of CVD. In a multiple model comprising only patients with CVD, corticosteroids delayed the event. A high last registered erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) value before event increased CVD risk, in particular when early in disease progression. Decreased life span was predicted by higher age at disease onset, male sex, low education level, high disease activity, hypertension, and CVD. HLA-B27 was associated with decreased life span, as was early, but not extensive corticosteroid treatment. DMARD treatment was associated with decreased mortality risk, as was the presence of joint prosthesis. In multiple regression, male sex, higher age at disease onset, atlantoaxial subluxation early in disease, hypertension, and cardiovascular event increased mortality. A high last registered ESR value before event or death added to that risk. CONCLUSION: The study emphasizes the importance of inflammation as an important risk indicator for CVD and mortality in RA. The positive impact of disease activity reducing treatment on CVD risk and survival is suggested.
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| 14. |
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| 15. |
- Andersson Gäre, Boel, et al.
(författare)
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Epidemiology of juvenile chronic arthritis in southwestern Sweden: a 5-year prospective population study.
- 1992
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Ingår i: Pediatrics. - 0031-4005. ; 90:6, s. 950-8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Previous epidemiological studies of juvenile chronic arthritis (JCA) report divergent results owing to differences in diagnostic criteria, patient retrieval, and study designs. To investigate incidence and prevalence of JCA in a total population, this prospective survey was performed in southwestern Sweden between 1984 and 1988. Cases were identified using the European League Against Rheumatism criteria for JCA and were reported annually from eight pediatric departments and local pediatricians in the studied area. During the 5 years, 213 new cases of JCA were found, corresponding to an incidence of 54.6 per 100,000 children younger than 16 years of age. The average annual incidence was 10.9 per 100,000. The peak incidence rate, 18.3 per 100,000 was found in girls 0 through 3 years old. The lowest incidence rate, 6.4 per 100,000, was found among boys 12 through 15 years old. In December 1988, 334 cases of JCA were recorded, giving a prevalence of 86.3 per 100,000. When patients in remission were omitted the prevalence was 64.1 per 100,000. The monoarticular+pauciarticular onset type constituted 68.3% of the prevalence cases, while 21.9 were polyarticular and 6.6% had systemic onset. To avoid underestimation of incidence and prevalence, and to get a correct picture of disease patterns, epidemiological surveys of JCA should be population-based rather than referral center-based. Further descriptive studies of JCA in different well-defined geographic areas are important to make valid comparisons. Such comparisons could give clues to etiological factors, both genetic and environmental.
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| 16. |
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| 17. |
- Hauser, Nik, et al.
(författare)
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Interaction of cartilage matrix protein with aggrecan. Increased covalent cross-linking with tissue maturation
- 1996
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Ingår i: Journal of Biological Chemistry. - 1083-351X. ; 271:50, s. 32247-32252
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cartilage matrix protein (CMP) is a trimeric protein present in many types of cartilage extracellular matrix. It has recently been purified under native conditions that allowed the proposal of a structural model (Hauser, N., and Paulsson, M. (1994) J. Biol. Chem. 269, 25747-25753). To examine the functional properties of CMP we studied its interaction with aggrecan within cartilage extracellular matrix. Aggrecan-enriched fractions were purified from bovine tracheal cartilage of different ages under nondenaturing and denaturing conditions, respectively, and characterized by a combination of biochemical methods and electron microscopy. The fractions contained a pool of CMP noncovalently associated with aggrecan as well as a pool of CMP that appears covalently cross-linked to the aggrecan core protein. Only about two thirds of the CMP subunits could be released even upon reduction under denaturing conditions. It appears that CMP is attached by a nonreducible covalent interaction of one of its subunits with the protein core. The amount of CMP strongly bound to aggrecan increases with age. Electron microscopy revealed interaction sites for CMP in the extended chondroitin-sulfate attachment domain E2. In old tissue five distinct binding sites for CMP were found while in young cartilage only three of these were occupied. The extent of decoration of E2 with CMP increases with age.
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| 18. |
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| 19. |
- Mörgelin, Matthias, et al.
(författare)
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Electron microscopy of native cartilage oligomeric matrix protein purified from the Swarm rat chondrosarcoma reveals a five-armed structure
- 1992
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Ingår i: Journal of Biological Chemistry. - 1083-351X. ; 267:9, s. 6137-6141
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cartilage oligomeric matrix protein was isolated in the native state from the Swarm rat chondrosarcoma. A crucial step was its selective extraction with EDTA-containing buffer. The purified protein was subjected to electron microscopy using rotary shadowing and negative stain. The images allowed the construction of a structural model. The bouquet-like protein consists of five 28-nm-long arms containing a peripheral globular domain, a flexible strand, and a central assembly domain, where the five arms meet in a cylindrical structure.
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| 20. |
- Mörgelin, Matthias, et al.
(författare)
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Proteoglycans from the swarm rat chondrosarcoma. Structure of the aggregates extracted with associative and dissociative solvents as revealed by electron microscopy
- 1992
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Ingår i: Journal of Biological Chemistry. - 1083-351X. ; 267:20, s. 14275-14284
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Proteoglycan aggregates were extracted from Swarm rat chondrosarcoma tissue in the native state and compared with proteoglycan aggregates isolated dissociatively with 4 M guanidine HCl. Purified aggregates were examined with a variety of electron microscopic techniques. In some cases they showed a structure of the central filament identical to that of the link-stabilized central filament observed in earlier experiments where the separated constituents were allowed to reconstitute (Morgelin, M., Paulsson, M., Hardingham, T. E., Heinegard, D., and Engel, J. (1988) Biochem. J. 253, 175-185). The tight packing of proteoglycan monomers along the hyaluronate with a minimum distance of 12 nm between adjacent E1 strands also could thus be confirmed for never dissociated aggregates. The results therefore show that the organization of proteoglycan aggregates assembled in vitro from the participating molecules is representative for conditions in situ. An additional structural type of central filament was observed in the preparations. This contained long stretches of free hyaluronate interspaced by short stretches of central filament with condensed arrays of link protein-proteoglycan. Chemical cross-linking in combination with low shear electron microscopical techniques showed that this discontinuous central filament structure is not an artifact of specimen preparation. The addition of suprastoichiometric amounts of exogenous link protein did not affect the central filament structure with the low packing density. Densely and loosely packed types of central filament were isolated in varying relative amounts with different associative and dissociative solvents.
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