| 1. |
- Arvidson, Nils Gunnar, et al.
(author)
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Circadian rhytm of serum interleukin-6 in rheumatoid arthritis
- 1994
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In: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. - 0003-4967 .- 1468-2060. ; 53:8, s. 521-4
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- OBJECTIVES--To test the hypothesis of a diurnal variation in circulating levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and/or tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) in rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory connective tissue diseases. METHODS--Serum levels of IL-6 and TNF-alpha were measured at three hour intervals from 7:30 to 22:30 in 48 patients with different rheumatic diseases as well as ten healthy controls. In four of the patients with rheumatoid arthritis, serum IL-6 levels were measured before and after one week of treatment with prednisolone 15-20 mg daily. RESULTS--IL-6 and TNF-alpha could not be detected in serum from healthy controls. However, serum IL-6 levels were substantially increased in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Furthermore, patients with rheumatoid arthritis showed a statistically significant circadian variation in levels of IL-6. Peak values appeared in the morning and low values in the afternoon and evening. In contrast, levels were low and stable in other connective tissue diseases. Levels of TNF-alpha were low in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and high in patients with other connective tissue diseases, but without circadian rhythm. After treatment with prednisolone, levels of serum IL-6 decreased significantly, but the circadian rhythm remained. CONCLUSIONS--The circadian rhythm of circulating IL-6 might correspond to the circadian rhythm of symptoms in rheumatoid arthritis. The diurnal variation of IL-6, and possibly other cytokines, might explain the conflicting results previously reported on the inter-relationship between circulating IL-6 levels and disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis.
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| 2. |
- Fernö, M., et al.
(author)
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Estrogen and progesterone receptor analyses in more than 4000 human breast cancer samples : A study with special reference to age at diagnosis and stability of analyses
- 1990
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In: Acta Oncologica. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0284-186X .- 1651-226X. ; 29:2, s. 129-135
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Estrogen (ER) and progesterone receptors (PgR) were measured in the same laboratory in more than 4000 breast cancer biopsy samples obtained from 15 different hospitals during ten years. ER was measured with isoelectric focusing and PgR with the dextran-coated charcoal method and Scatchard analysis. The distribution pattern for both ER and PgR was during this time period and for the different hospitals rather similar indicating a good stability of the analytical methods. ER concentration was positively correlated with patient age, with a higher percentage of positive samples and higher concentrations in patients ≥50 years of age compared with patients <50 years. PgR concentration increased with age for patients under 50 years, but a considerable reduction of PgR concentration and of the proportion of positive samples was seen in patients between 50 and 59 years of age. Above this age the PgR concentration again increased with increasing age. The PgR/ER ratio and the proportion of ER- PgR+ samples were higher in patients under 50 years compared to older patients. ER and PgR values decreased during tamoxifen treatment, during pregnancy and after preoperative radiotherapy. Wet weight, DNA and protein were compared as reference parameters for the expression of ER and PgR concentrations. Strong correlations were obtained suggesting that similar information can be obtained with either of these reference parameters.
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