The SENIEUR protocol and the efficacy of hepatitis B vaccination in healthy elderly persons by age, gender, and vaccine route.

Background: Reduced response to hepatitis B vaccines is associated with aging, confounding and comorbid conditions, as well as inadvertent subcutaneous (SC) inoculation. We hypothesized that the antibody and T cell-mediated immune responses (T-CMI) of elderly adults to a vaccine intended for intramuscular (IM) administration would be attenuated when deposited into SC fat, independent of confounding conditions.

Results: Fifty-two healthy, community dwelling elderly adults (65-82 years), seronegative for HBV, were enrolled in the SENIEUR protocol as a strictly healthy population.

Exploratory study on oxygen consumption on-kinetics during treadmill walking in women with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objective: To determine whether oxygen consumption (V o(2)) on-kinetics differed between groups of women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and sedentary but otherwise healthy controls.

Design: Exploratory case-control study.

Setting: Medical school exercise physiology laboratory.

Improvement of agreement in TCM diagnosis among TCM practitioners for persons with the conventional diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis: effect of training.

Objective: To investigate whether a training process that focused on consensus on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) diagnostic criteria will improve the agreement of TCM diagnosis on patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Design: The design was a prospective survey.

Setting: The study was conducted at the General Clinical Research Center, University of Maryland Hospital System, Baltimore, MD.

Effect of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Objective: To assess the effect of a meditation training program, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), on depressive symptoms, psychological status, and disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) through a randomized, waitlist-controlled pilot study.

Methods: Participants were randomized to either an MBSR group, where they attended an 8-week course and 4-month maintenance program, or to a waitlist control group, where they attended all assessment visits and received MBSR free of charge after study end. Participants received usual care from their rheumatologists throughout the trial.

Baseline disease activity, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension are predictive factors for ischemic stroke and stroke severity in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Background And Purpose: To determine factors associated with ischemic stroke and stroke severity in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Methods: Between 1992 and January 2005, 238 consecutive systemic lupus erythematosus patients with no history of stroke were followed-up longitudinally at the Maryland Lupus Clinic. Patients were monitored quarterly for a mean of 8 years after their systemic lupus erythematosus diagnosis, and 44 patients (19%) developed first-ever ischemic stroke.