Arthritis research & therapy
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Arthritis Res. Ther. · Jan 2013
Hyaluronic acid fragments enhance the inflammatory and catabolic response in human intervertebral disc cells through modulation of toll-like receptor 2 signalling pathways.
Intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration is characterized by extracellular matrix breakdown and is considered to be a primary cause of discogenic back pain. Although increases in pro-inflammatory cytokine levels within degenerating discs are associated with discogenic back pain, the mechanisms leading to their overproduction have not yet been elucidated. As fragmentation of matrix components occurs during IVD degeneration, we assessed the potential involvement of hyaluronic acid fragments (fHAs) in the induction of inflammatory and catabolic mediators. ⋯ These findings suggest that fHAs may have the potential to mediate IVD degeneration and discogenic back pain through activation of the TLR2 signaling pathway in resident IVD cells.
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Arthritis Res. Ther. · Jan 2013
The inclusion of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide in a sensitive screening strategy for systemic sclerosis-related pulmonary arterial hypertension: a cohort study.
Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a major cause of mortality in systemic sclerosis (SSc). Screening guidelines for PAH recommend multiple investigations, including annual echocardiography, which together have low specificity and may not be cost-effective. We sought to evaluate the predictive accuracy of serum N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) in combination with pulmonary function tests (PFT) (‘proposed’ algorithm) in a screening algorithm for SSc-PAH. ⋯ The combination of NT-proBNP with PFT is a sensitive, yet simple and non-invasive, screening strategy for SSc-PAH. Patients with a positive screening result can be referred for echocardiography, and further confirmatory testing for PAH. In this way, it may be possible to shift the burden of routine screening away from echocardiography. The findings of this study should be confirmed in larger studies.
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Arthritis Res. Ther. · Jan 2013
Observational StudyThe FAt Spondyloarthritis Spine Score (FASSS): development and validation of a new scoring method for the evaluation of fat lesions in the spine of patients with axial spondyloarthritis.
Studies have shown that fat lesions follow resolution of inflammation in the spine of patients with axial spondyloarthritis (SpA). Fat lesions at vertebral corners have also been shown to predict development of new syndesmophytes. Therefore, scoring of fat lesions in the spine may constitute both an important measure of treatment efficacy as well as a surrogate marker for new bone formation. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a new scoring method for fat lesions in the spine, the Fat SpA Spine Score (FASSS), which in contrast to the existing scoring method addresses the localization and phenotypic diversity of fat lesions in patients with axial SpA. ⋯ FASSS meets essential validation criteria for quantification of a common structural abnormality in clinical trials of axial spondyloarthritis.
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Arthritis Res. Ther. · Jan 2013
Contact activation products are new potential biomarkers to evaluate the risk of thrombotic events in systemic lupus erythematosus.
Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have persistent platelet activation and an increased risk of thrombotic events, which cannot be accounted for by traditional cardiovascular risk factors. Factor (F)XII has a potentially important role in thrombus formation and is triggered by activated platelets. We therefore asked whether the contact system is involved in inflammation and vascular disease (VD) in SLE. ⋯ Activation of FXII is elicited by fibrin during thrombotic reactions in vitro and in vivo, and fibrin acts as a heparin-like co-factor and regulates AT. Patients with SLE had altered levels of FXIIa-serpin complexes, supporting that the contact system is involved in this disease. FXIIa-serpin complexes are strongly associated with previous VD in SLE patients, suggesting that these complexes are potential biomarkers for monitoring and assessing the risk of thrombotic events in SLE.
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Arthritis Res. Ther. · Jan 2013
Veterans Affairs databases are accurate for gout-related health care utilization: a validation study.
The aim of this study was to assess the accuracy of Veterans Affairs (VA) databases for gout-related health care utilization. ⋯ VA databases are accurate for gout-related visits. These findings support their use for studies of health services and outcome studies. It remains to be seen if these findings are generalizable to other settings and databases.