Urinary TWEAK as a biomarker of lupus nephritis: a multicenter cohort study.

Introduction: TNF-like weak inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK) has been implicated as a mediator of chronic inflammatory processes via prolonged activation of the NF-kappaB pathway in several tissues, including the kidney. Evidence for the importance of TWEAK in the pathogenesis of lupus nephritis (LN) has been recently introduced. Thus, TWEAK levels may serve as an indication of LN presence and activity.

Relapsing polychondritis presenting with complete heart block.

Relapsing polychondritis (RP) is a rare autoimmune disease characterized by recurrent inflammation of cartilagenous structures, including the ears, nose, trachea, and joints. Cardiovascular involvement is relatively common, but involvement of the conduction system leading to various degrees of heart block is a rare and late manifestation of the disease usually requiring a pacemaker. We report here a patient with RP who presented with complete heart block that resolved promptly after treatment with prednisone.

Urinary lipocalin-2 is associated with renal disease activity in human lupus nephritis.

Objective: Pathogenic monoclonal anti-double-stranded DNA (anti-dsDNA) antibodies up-regulate the expression of lipocalin-2 in glomerular mesangial cells. This study was undertaken to investigate whether polyclonal anti-dsDNA antibodies promote the local secretion of lipocalin-2 in the kidneys of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and whether urinary lipocalin-2 represents a marker of kidney involvement in SLE.

Methods: Hispanic, African American, and white patients with SLE and normal healthy control subjects from affiliated hospitals of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine were recruited for this cross-sectional study.

Trigeminal neuralgia as the first manifestation of mixed connective tissue disorder.

This report describes a patient with mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) and trigeminal neuralgia (TN). Features of her TN, along with those of the 6 previously reported patients with TN and MCTD such as bilaterality and response to steroid therapy, suggest that the TN in MCTD differs from the idiopathic form of the disease. Because the TN often precedes other features of the MCTD, it may be useful to test patients with atypical TN for the presence of anti-RNP antibodies in order to identify a subset with both systemic disease and a potential to respond to corticosteroid therapy.