Polskie Archiwum Medycyny Wewnętrznej
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Pol. Arch. Med. Wewn. · Jan 2024
Hospitalizations of sarcoidosis patients before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland.
Sarcoidosis is a multisystemic granulomatous disease that mostly affects the lungs and lymphatic system. Due to its rarity and variable clinical course, analyses of factors related to sarcoidosis should be based on large databases and long observation periods. ⋯ Health care changes related to the outbreak of the COVID‑19 pandemic may have increased the health debt for inpatient sarcoidosis treatment. The occurrence of sarcoidosis in Poland may be related to demographic and territorial factors.
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Pol. Arch. Med. Wewn. · Jan 2024
The treatment regimens and disease activity could alter the salivary myeloperoxidase levels in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases.
Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) present with alternating periods of exacerbation and remission; therefore, it is necessary to develop noninvasive diagnostic tools to control the disease activity and improve therapeutic effectiveness. Recently, we have found that patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) who qualified for biologic therapy had significantly lower salivary myeloperoxidase (MPO) levels. ⋯ Salivary MPO levels changed depending on the disease activity in the patients with UC. Decreased MPO concentration in the saliva could be a predictor of clinically active UC.
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Pol. Arch. Med. Wewn. · Jan 2024
Hydroxychloroquine as an important immunomodulator: a novel insight into an old drug.
Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) is an increasingly popular drug owing to its efficacy, long‑term safety, and a wide range of therapeutic effects. Currently, due to the numerous benefits it provides, the use of the drug goes beyond the treatment of rheumatic and dermatologic diseases. As HCQ shows anti‑inflammatory, immunomodulatory, antiproliferative, and photoprotective action, it has a great potential to be applied also in the treatment of oncologic diseases, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, or recurrent miscarriages. ⋯ This paper presents the latest data on HCQ, its mechanisms of action, its therapeutic potential in current clinical practice as well as future perspectives. It also discusses the correct dosing regimen and long‑term monitoring, with consideration of possible rare complications. Finally, it focuses on the enormous benefits for patients with rheumatic diseases in terms of reducing the disease activity and organ damage, preventing flares and pregnancy‑related complications, and, most importantly, lowering mortality rates in SLE patients.