Rheumatoid factor isotype and Ro epitope distribution in primary Sjögren syndrome and rheumatoid arthritis with keratoconjunctivitis sicca.

Primary Sjögren syndrome (pS) is associated with autoantibodies such as rheumatoid factor (RF) and anti-nuclear antibodies such as anti-Ro (SS-A) and/or La (SS-B). Recent developments within autoimmune diagnostics allow quantitation of RF subclasses and anti-Ro epitopes. Will this refinement by autoimmune diagnostics help predicting development of extraglandular manifestations (EGM) in pS patients? A cohort of pS and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with keratoconjunctivitis sicca (n = 35 and 16, resp) was included.

A multiplex assay to rapidly exclude HLA-DQ2.5 and HLA-DQ8 expression in patients at risk for celiac disease.

Background: Celiac disease (CD) is an inflammatory disorder of the small intestine induced by gluten ingestion. CD has a strong genetic association with human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DQ2.5 and HLA-DQ8.

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia specific T-cell subset alterations are clone-size dependent and not present in monoclonal B lymphocytosis.

In patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), effector and memory CD4 + and CD8 + T cells are expanded. We investigated whether these CLL specific T-cell expansions also occur in monoclonal B lymphocytosis (MBL), the pre-leukemic state of CLL, which is currently distinguished from CLL by an arbitrarily chosen cut-off value of CD19 of 5.0 × 10(9)/L.

Use of the CD19 count in a primary care laboratory as a screening method for B-cell chronic lymphoproliferative disorders in asymptomatic patients with lymphocytosis.

Background: Detection of absolute and relative lymphocytosis in otherwise asymptomatic elderly patients is very common in the primary care setting and frequently results in referral for screening of lymphoproliferative disorders. Since many B-cell chronic lymphoproliferative disorders (B-CLPD) are indeed asymptomatic at diagnosis in most patients with lymphocytosis, no sign of such a disorder is usually detected. Currently, specific guidelines for screening of patients with lymphocytosis are lacking.