The Safety of Continued Oral Anticoagulation Therapy in Joint Injections and Aspirations: A Qualitative Review of the Current Evidence.

Performing joint aspirations and injections on patients taking long-term oral anticoagulants poses a clinical conundrum. This review aimed to quantify the safety of performing joint procedures in these patients in terms of bleeding risk. In addition, it aimed to identify, in those receiving vitamin K antagonists, what level of international normalized ratio (INR) is the safest.

, HTLV-1 and small bowel obstruction.

An 81-year-old Jamaican man who has been resident in the UK for many years presented with one week history of generalised abdominal pain, postprandial vomiting, anorexia, weight loss and abdominal distension. He was managed conservatively for acute small bowel obstruction. Investigations revealed a duodenal stricture.

The role of vitamin D in increasing circulating T regulatory cell numbers and modulating T regulatory cell phenotypes in patients with inflammatory disease or in healthy volunteers: A systematic review.

Background: The evidence for vitamin D and other agents that experimentally modulate T regulatory cells (Tregs) for the treatment of patients with autoimmune or allergic diseases has not been established.

Objective: We have undertaken a systematic review of randomised controlled trials to assess the efficacy of vitamin D, vitamin A, niacin and short-chain fatty acids in enhancing absolute Treg numbers and phenotypes in patients with inflammatory or autoimmune disease.

Methods: This systematic review was conducted using a predefined protocol (PROSPERO International prospective register of systematic reviews, ID = CRD42016048648/ CRD42016048646).

Loss of galectin-3 decreases the number of immune cells in the subventricular zone and restores proliferation in a viral model of multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) frequently starts near the lateral ventricles, which are lined by subventricular zone (SVZ) progenitor cells that can migrate to lesions and contribute to repair. Because MS-induced inflammation may decrease SVZ proliferation and thus limit repair, we studied the role of galectin-3 (Gal-3), a proinflammatory protein. Gal-3 expression was increased in periventricular regions of human MS in post-mortem brain samples and was also upregulated in periventricular regions in a murine MS model, Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) infection.

Self-limiting recurrent bullous Henoch-Schonlein purpura with lupus anticoagulant.

Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP) is the most common acute systemic vasculitis of childhood with an incidence of approximately 1:10,000. It commonly presents with skin, gastrointestinal tract, joints and renal system signs and symptoms. We present a case of recurrent self-limiting HSP with lupus anticoagulant presenting with haemorrhagic bullous skin lesions and scrotal swelling.