| 1. |
- Kirwan, John R, et al.
(författare)
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The effect of therapeutic glucocorticoids on the adrenal response in a randomized controlled trial in patients with rheumatoid arthritis
- 2006
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Ingår i: Arthritis and Rheumatism. - : Wiley. - 0004-3591 .- 1529-0131. ; 54:5, s. 1415-1421
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: To measure the effect of low-dose systemic glucocorticoid treatment on the adrenal response to adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS: Patients with RA who took part in a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial of budesonide (3 mg/day and 9 mg/day) and prednisolone (7.5 mg/day) underwent a short (60-minute) test with injection of ACTH (tetracosactide hexaacetate) at baseline and the day after completing the 3-month treatment program. Plasma cortisol measurements at baseline and 3 months were compared within and between the treatment groups. Individual patients were classified as normal responders to ACTH or as abnormal responders if changes were >2 SD below the pretreatment value in the entire group of study patients. RESULTS: Short tests with ACTH injection were performed on 139 patients before beginning the study medication and on 134 patients after cessation of the medication. There were no changes in the placebo group. Mean plasma cortisol levels following treatment were reduced in all active treatment groups. In addition, mean values were significantly reduced for the 30-minute and 60-minute responses to ACTH. The maximum reduction (35%) occurred in the prednisolone group at 60 minutes. Following treatment, 34% of patients taking budesonide 9 mg and 46% of those taking prednisolone 7.5 mg failed to reach the normal maximum cortisol response to ACTH. Four patients failed to achieve the normal percentage increase in cortisol levels, but only 1 patient failed to meet both criteria. CONCLUSION: Low doses of a glucocorticoid resulted in depression of baseline and ACTH-stimulated cortisol levels after 12 weeks of therapy. Although the responsiveness of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in individual patients generally remained within the normal range, these changes should be investigated further.
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| 2. |
- Sjöblom, K G, et al.
(författare)
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Plasma levels of beta-2 microglobulin in rheumatoid arthritis.
- 1980
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Ingår i: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. - 1468-2060. ; 39:4, s. 333-339
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A simple and inexpensive method is described for the determination of beta 2-microglobulin (beta 2-MG) by enzyme-amplified single radial immunodiffusion. The values obtained with this method correlate well with those determined by means of a commerical RIA kit. Using the immunodiffusion method we have measured the plasma levels of beta 2-MG in 135 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and normal serum creatinine levels. 33% of the patients had increased concentrations of beta 2 MG, but the levels were found to correlate poorly with the values of several variables generally used as indices of the degree inflammatory activity in RA. Furthermore, in contrast to earlier claims to the contrary, beta 2-MG correlated positively with age. The value of beta 2-MG in plasma as an index of inflammatory activity in RA is questioned.
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| 3. |
- Chard, Jiri, et al.
(författare)
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Osteoarthritis
- 2002
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Ingår i: Clinical evidence. - 1462-3846. ; 14:5, s. 571-572
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Abignano, Giuseppina, et al.
(författare)
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Collagenous colitis in systemic sclerosis: an overlooked and treatable complication.
- 2014
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Ingår i: Journal of Clinical Rheumatology. - 1536-7355. ; 20:5, s. 278-282
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Collagenous colitis (CC) is an inflammatory bowel condition of unknown etiology. Systemic sclerosis (SSc) has been associated with CC in a few cases, but it is not clear whether CC could be considered an unusual manifestation of SSc or an independent condition. Here we present a case of SSc-associated CC and compare routine histology and immunofluorescence studies for allograft inflammatory factor 1 and caveolin 1 expression with other cases of CC and healthy controls. All CC biopsies showed characteristic sublaminal collagen accumulation and a decrease of caveolin 1 expression, this latter finding consistent with and common in any fibrotic reaction. In contrast, the expression of allograft inflammatory factor 1 was increased only in the SSc-CC specimen, suggesting a distinct pathogenesis. A literature review revealed 6 previously reported cases of SSc-CC with common clinical features. These observations suggest that CC should be suspected as a rare gastrointestinal complication of SSc and that clinicians should be aware of the possibility in SSc patients developing watery diarrhea.
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| 10. |
- Geborek, Pierre, et al.
(författare)
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Direct assessment of synovial blood flow and its relation to induced hydrostatic pressure changes
- 1989
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Ingår i: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. - : BMJ. - 1468-2060 .- 0003-4967. ; 48:4, s. 281-286
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A method for measuring synovial blood flow changes using the laser Doppler technique is described. Mean blood flow and mean pulse amplitude decreased by 50-70% in relation to the reference level when the intra-articular hydrostatic pressure in effusive knee joints of patients with rheumatoid arthritis was increased. As an increase of intra-articular pressure of as little as 20 mmHg decreased synovial blood flow significantly it is suggested that hypoxia may occur in vivo during joint use in the presence of an effusion. This may be of aetiopathogenetic importance for tissue destruction and the persistence of chronic synovitis.
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