[Presence of HLA-DRB1 alleles in a group of patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with low doses of sodium aurothiomalate].

The good results of a therapy with small doses of sodium aurothiomalate (20 mg/month) in 17 patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis are reported. The mean age +/- ESM at the beginning of treatment was 59.9 +/- 3.

Vascular damage and not hypertension per se influences endothelin-1 plasma levels in patients with non insulin dependent diabetes mellitus.

Several reports indicate higher endothelin-1 (ET-1) levels in patients with non insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), although this finding has not been confirmed by other studies. The discrepancy may be partially explained by the frequent coexistence in NIDDM patients of other pathologies, such as essential hypertension, and by the presence of diabetic vascular complications or renal failure, able, per se, to increase ET-1 circulating levels. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of arterial hypertension and/or of diabetic angiopathy on ET-1 circulating levels in a group of NIDDM patients.

[The use of low doses of sodium aurothiomalate in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Current trends in basic therapy].

We studied 20 patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis treated with small doses of sodium aurothiomalate (20 mg/month, seldom 40 mg/month) for a mean time of 6.1 years (range 2.7-10.

Painful vein overdistension in migraine patients: no relationship with serotoninergic parameters.

Overdistension of the hand-forearm veins after a period of ischaemia-induced stasis causes local pain in a high percentage of migraineurs, but never in healthy subjects. To investigate the mechanism of such pain, we compared 5-hydroxytryptamine (5HT) whole blood levels and hand vein 5HT reactivity of migraine subjects who did experience pain during venous overdistension to those who did not. No differences were found in whole blood 5HT levels or in the venoconstrictor activity of 5HT between subjects experiencing pain and those who did not.