[Disease course, frequency of relapses and survival of patients with juvenile or adult dermatomyositis].

Introduction: The idiopathic inflammatory myopathies are systemic autoimmune diseases characterized by chronic muscle inflammation resulting progressive weakness and frequent involvement of internal organs, mainly the pulmonary, gastrointestinal and cardiac systems.

Objective: To present clinical characteristics, disease course, frequency of relapses and survival of 79 patients with juvenile or adult dermatomyositis.

Methods: A national registry of patients with juvenile dermatomyositis was elaborated by the authors in Hungary.

Antinucleosome antibodies and decreased deoxyribonuclease activity in sera of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Nucleosomes are the dominant autoantigens in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and immune complexes involving nucleosomes are the major cause of tissue damage. The activity of DNase I, the enzyme responsible for nucleosome degradation, has been found to be decreased in patients with SLE. However, it is not known whether DNase activity is a clinically useful parameter.