Polskie Archiwum Medycyny Wewnętrznej
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Pol. Arch. Med. Wewn. · Jun 2019
Clinical outcomes and plasma clot permeability and lysability in patients with venous thromboembolism on rivaroxaban: a cohort study.
Denser fibrin structure and impaired fibrinolysis reported in patients following venous thromboembolism (VTE) can predict recurrent VTE after cessation of anticoagulation. ⋯ Our study suggests that Ks assessed on rivaroxaban may provide prognostic information about the risk of recurrent VTE in anticoagulated patients.
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Pol. Arch. Med. Wewn. · Jun 2019
IRF5 promoter methylation as a new potential marker of rheumatoid arthritis.
Introduction: The interferon regulatory factor 5 (IRF5) gene is implicated in the toll‑like receptor signaling pathway and has proinflammatory and chemotactic effects, but its role in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) remains unclear. Since the pathobiology of RA shares some similarities with other autoimmune diseases, we tested the hypothesis that RA may be associated with IRF5‑related pathways, as has been reported for systemic lupus erythematosus and Sjögren syndrome. Objectives: The aim of the study was to investigate the association between the presence of methylation in the IRF5 promoter and the morbidity and severity of RA as well as with levels of inflammatory markers. Patients and methods: A total of 146 unrelated individuals, 122 patients with RA and 24 healthy controls, were enrolled in the study. All RA patients were genotyped with regard to the following polymorphisms in the IRF5 gene: rs10488631, T>C and rs4728142 G>A. ⋯ A quantitative real‑time methylation‑specific polymerase chain reaction was used to evaluate methylation status. Results: We found differences between patients with RA and healthy controls in the methylation pattern of the promoter region. The methylation level was 43.6% lower in RA patients than in controls (median [interquartile range], 0.79 [0.6-1.13] vs 1.4 [1.16-1.66]; P = 0.0001). Variant rs4728142 G>A was more common in seronegative patients with RA. Conclusions: The methylation profile of the IRF5 promoter may be used as a new potential marker of RA, which is independent of current criteria of disease activity.