Arthritis research & therapy
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Arthritis Res. Ther. · Jan 2010
ReviewInterstitial lung disease in connective tissue diseases: evolving concepts of pathogenesis and management.
Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a challenging clinical entity associated with multiple connective tissue diseases, and is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. Effective therapies for connective tissue disease-associated interstitial lung disease (CTD-ILD) are still lacking. Multidisciplinary clinics dedicated to the early diagnosis and improved management of patients with CTD-ILD are now being established. ⋯ Serum biomarkers may provide new insights as risk factors for pulmonary fibrosis and as measures of disease progression. Despite these recent advances, the management of patients with CTD-ILD remains suboptimal. Further studies are therefore urgently needed to better understand these conditions, and to develop effective therapeutic interventions.
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Arthritis Res. Ther. · Jan 2010
Localized 1H-NMR spectroscopy in patients with fibromyalgia: a controlled study of changes in cerebral glutamate/glutamine, inositol, choline, and N-acetylaspartate.
The purpose of this study was to investigate whether single-voxel (SV) proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) detected differences between fibromyalgia (FM) patients and healthy controls. We also searched for correlations between neuroimaging abnormalities and neuropsychological variables. ⋯ Glx within the posterior gyrus could be a pathologic factor in FM. Hippocampal dysfunction may be partially responsible for the depressive symptoms of FM. Additional studies with larger samples are required to confirm these preliminary data.
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Arthritis Res. Ther. · Jan 2010
Influence of comorbidity with depression on interdisciplinary therapy: outcomes in patients with chronic low back pain.
Our previous work showed higher tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α levels in patients with chronic low back pain (cLBP) compared to healthy controls. However, patients with depression as a comorbidity did not have higher TNF-α levels in comparison to patients without depression. In this study we investigated the influence of depression on therapy outcomes such as TNF-α serum levels, pain intensity and back function in patients with cLBP. Our hypothesis was that patients with both cLBP and depression benefit no less than patients with cLBP alone from the multidisciplinary pain therapy. ⋯ Depression as a comorbidity to chronic low back pain did not influence the serum TNF-α level in the course of six months, but seemed to affect the success of therapy. cLBP patients with comorbidity of depression benefit from multidisciplinary pain therapy not only to the same extent but also to a greater degree than cLBP patients without depression.
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Arthritis Res. Ther. · Jan 2010
Association between occupation and knee and hip replacement due to osteoarthritis: a case-control study.
The objective of this study was to examine the association between occupation and osteoarthritis (OA) leading to total knee (TKR) or hip (THR) joint replacement. ⋯ These results support an association in males between occupations with heavy physical load and both TKR and THR for OA.
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Arthritis Res. Ther. · Jan 2010
Innate immunity triggers IL-32 expression by fibroblast-like synoviocytes in rheumatoid arthritis.
Interleukin-32 (IL-32) is a recently described cytokine that is a strong inducer of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-8. The expression of this cytokine is highly increased in the rheumatoid synovium and correlated with the severity of joint inflammation. Little is known regarding the innate immune-related regulation of IL-32 by fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs). We therefore investigated the effect of innate immune stimulation by ligands of Toll-like receptor (TLR)2, TLR3, and TLR4, and cytokines such as TNF-α and interferon (IFN)-γ, on IL-32 expression by FLSs. ⋯ IL-32 synthesis by FLSs is tightly regulated by innate immunity in rheumatoid arthritis. Thus TNF-α, IFN-γ, double-strand RNA, hyaluronic acid, or other damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), highly secreted in synovial tissues of RA patients, might trigger IL-32 secretion by FLSs. IL-32 might therefore represent a relevant therapeutic target in RA.