International journal of rheumatic diseases
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Kawasaki disease (KD) is a systemic vasculitis of children associated with cardiovascular sequelae. Proinflammatory cytokines play a major role in KD pathogenesis. However, their role is both influenced and modified by regulatory T-cells. IL-1 gene cluster, IL-6 and TNF-α polymorphisms have shown significant associations with some vasculitides. Herein we investigated their role in KD. ⋯ TNF-α GG genotype at -238 and GG haplotype at positions -308 and -238 were associated with KD in an Iranian population.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Clinical outcomes are associated with changes in ultrasonographic structural appearance after platelet-rich plasma treatment for knee osteoarthritis.
Hyaluronic acid (HA) and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) are two treatment options used for knee osteoarthritis (KOA) but studies comparing the efficacy of the two yield conflicting results. In addition, the association of clinical outcomes of PRP intra-articular injections with changes in the ultrasonography structural appearance of the knee has not been investigated. ⋯ Intra-articular injection of PRP is an effective treatment that reduced pain and improved functional status in patients with KOA. The clinical outcomes of the intra-articular injections of PRP are associated with improved synovial hypertrophy and vascularity scores, and less effusion.
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Bone marrow as a target organ of systemic lupus erythematosus: analysis of cases with myelofibrosis.
Cytopenia in the course of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) may be due to multiple factors. In this study, we aimed primarily to evaluate the detailed results of bone marrow (BM) biopsies of SLE patients, secondly to determine the myelofibrosis (MF) frequency and thirdly to compare BM morphologic findings as well as the clinical and laboratory parameters between groups (with MF and without MF) in cytopenic SLE patients. ⋯ MF is common in SLE patients. SLE-associated MF as an additional factor for cytopenia in SLE patients may lead to delayed response to appropriate therapy, which may be dependent on the increased grade of BM fibrosis.
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Inflammatory back pain (IBP) is the earliest symptom of axial and other forms of spondyloarthritis (SpA). However, there are no published data on prevalence of IBP among patients suffering from chronic low back pain (CLBP) in Bangladesh. In this study, we estimated the prevalence of IBP and the subtypes of SpA in a tertiary hospital in Bangladesh. ⋯ Inflammatory back pain is common among patients presenting with CLBP. The commonest cause of IBP is AS, followed by PsA and nr-axSpA.