The 2023 ACR/EULAR antiphospholipid syndrome classification criteria identify patients at high risk of complications.

Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the utility of the 2023 ACR/EULAR antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) classification criteria in identifying primary APS patients at high risk of complications.

Methods: In this single-center study, primary APS patients were classified according to both the revised Sapporo criteria and the 2023 ACR/EULAR criteria. The risk of complications was assessed using the adjusted Global Antiphospholipid Syndrome Score (aGAPSS).

Design and On-Field Validation of an Embedded System for Monitoring Second-Life Electric Vehicle Lithium-Ion Batteries.

In the last few years, the growing demand for electric vehicles (EVs) in the transportation sector has contributed to the increased use of electric rechargeable batteries. At present, lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are the most commonly used in electric vehicles. Although once their storage capacity has dropped to below 80-70% it is no longer possible to use these batteries in EVs, it is feasible to use them in second-life applications as stationary energy storage systems.

Are antiphospholipid antibodies just a common epiphenomenon or are they causative of immune-mediated coagulopathy in COVID-19?

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the largest public health emergency in recent times. A significant number of patients develop a severe form of COVID-19 characterized by coagulopathy, organ failure, and elevated mortality. In addition, an unusually high frequency of antiphospholipid antibodies (aPLs) has been found in patients with COVID-19.

Is Takayasu arteritis the result of a Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection? The use of TNF inhibitors may be the proof-of-concept to demonstrate that this association is epiphenomenal.

Although the association between Takayasu arteritis (TA) and latent or active Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection has been suggested for a long time, studies conducted in recent years are challenging this notion. Until recently, the possibility of a pathogenic relationship between TA and tuberculosis (TB) was considered a medical curiosity, but the advent of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors as therapy for recalcitrant TA cases, as well as the widespread use of Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) for vaccination purposes, has relocated this association as a top priority issue. In an attempt to define whether both diseases are pathogenically linked or if their association is only epiphenomenal in nature, we conduct a thorough literature search on the development of TB in patients with TA receiving TNF inhibitors.

Levels of anti-Müllerian hormone in premenopausal women with the antiphospholipid syndrome and its association with the risk of clinical complications.

Objective: The study aims to investigate the ovarian reserve in premenopausal women with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) and to evaluate whether it is associated with cumulative organ damage or the risk of clinical complications.

Methods: This single-center study was conducted in 23 premenopausal female patients (10 with primary APS and 13 with secondary APS) and 24 healthy volunteers. Serum anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunoassay.

An imbalance in the T-helper phenotypes displayed by senescent CD4CD28 T cells is associated with erosive arthritis (rhupus syndrome) in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objective: The objective was to assess the proportion of Th1, Th2 and Th17 phenotypes in senescent CD4CD28 cells from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and its association with the pattern of joint involvement.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed in SLE patients with erosive arthritis (rhupus) or nondeforming, nonerosive arthritis. Total CD4CD28 cells as well as the proportion of these cells expressing T-bet, GATA3 or RORγt were analyzed by color-flow cytometry.

Levels of Cytokines and MicroRNAs in Individuals With Asymptomatic Hyperuricemia and Ultrasonographic Findings of Gout: A Bench-to-Bedside Approach.

Objective: To assess potential associations among serum cytokines and microRNA (miR) levels with ultrasound (US) findings suggestive of urate deposits in chronic asymptomatic hyperuricemia and gout.

Methods: All participants underwent musculoskeletal US and measurements of serum interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, IL-13, interferon-γ, tumor necrosis factor, monocyte chemoattractant protein 1, and epithelial neutrophil-activating peptide 78, as well as miR-146a, miR-155, and miR-223 levels.

Results: Thirty individuals with asymptomatic hyperuricemia, 31 normouricemic controls, and 30 patients with gout were included.

Type III Interferons in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: Association Between Interferon λ3, Disease Activity, and Anti-Ro/SSA Antibodies.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess associations between serum type III (λ) interferons (IFN-λ) and disease activity in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Methods: Serum levels of IFN-λ1, IFN-λ2, and IFN-λ3 were measured in 93 SLE patients and 67 healthy individuals. The associations with overall disease activity, organ-specific damage, and SLE-related antibodies were assessed.

Type-III interferons and rheumatoid arthritis: Correlation between interferon lambda 1 (interleukin 29) and antimutated citrullinated vimentin antibody levels.

Aim: To assess serum type III or lambda (λ) interferons (IFN) levels and its clinical and laboratory associations in rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: A cross-sectional study including 43 patients with RA (86% females; age 45.3 ± 10.

Anti-Ro/SSA antibodies are associated with severe mitral valve regurgitation in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objective: To assess whether anti-Ro/SSA antibodies are associated with cardiac valve disease in lupus.

Methods: A single-center, medical chart review was performed. Lupus patients were divided according to its anti-Ro/SSA status and subgroups were compared for valvular abnormalities and other characteristics.

Assessment of nailfold capillaries with a handheld dermatoscope may discriminate the extent of organ involvement in patients with systemic sclerosis.

To investigate whether nailfold capillaroscopy (NFC) patterns assessed through an in-office handheld dermatoscope may reflect the extent of disease severity in systemic sclerosis (SSc). NFC patterns were evaluated with a non-contact, polarized light dermatoscope in 40 consecutive patients with SSc and graded in sequence as 0 = normal, 1 = early, 2 = active, or 3 = late patterns. Disease severity was measured according to a modified Medsger severity scale (MSS).

Levels of uric acid may predict the future development of pulmonary hypertension in systemic lupus erythematosus: a seven-year follow-up study.

Objective: The objective of this paper is to assess whether pulmonary hypertension (PH) may be detected at one point in time or longitudinally predicted by serum uric acid (sUA) levels in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Methods: We conducted a post-hoc analysis of a long-term followed cohort of Mexican SLE patients. Echocardiography-based definitions of PH by the ESC/ERS/ISHLT and its associations with clinical and laboratory data on enrollment were studied.

Pulmonary hypertension in systemic lupus erythematosus: echocardiography-based definitions predict 6-year survival.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate whether a core of echocardiography-based definitions of pulmonary hypertension (PH), as proposed by the European Society of Cardiology, European Respiratory Society and International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation (ESC/ERS/ISHLT), may predict long-term survival in patients with SLE.

Methods: A post hoc analysis from a cohort of SLE patients followed over 6 years was performed. Clinical associations, serum biomarkers, autoantibody profile, length of survival and all-cause mortality were assessed.

Joint involvement in primary Sjögren's syndrome: an ultrasound "target area approach to arthritis".

Objective: To characterize the ultrasound (US) pattern of joint involvement in primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS).

Methods: Seventeen patients with pSS, 18 with secondary Sjögren's syndrome (sSS), and 17 healthy controls underwent US examinations of various articular regions. Synovitis (synovial hypertrophy/joint effusion), power Doppler (PD) signals, and erosions were assessed.

Self-reactivity against stress-induced cell molecules: the missing link between Takayasu's arteritis and tuberculosis?

Takayasu's arteritis (TA) is a chronic, occlusive, inflammatory disease of the aorta, its major branches and the pulmonary arteries. Its etiology remains unclear, although it has been suggested that a variety of antigens from Mycobacterium tuberculosis and probably other mycobacteria may trigger inflammatory pathology either directly in the arterial wall or remote from the actual location of mycobacterial infection, possibly through molecular mimicry mechanisms. However, recent evidence showing absence of both mycobacteria directly into arterial tissue as well as latent M.

C-reactive protein and complement components but not other acute-phase reactants discriminate between clinical subsets and organ damage in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Background: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease characterized by tissue injury mediated by inflammatory mechanisms. Nonetheless, several acute-phase proteins may remain normal or are decreased. We explore the association of diverse biomarkers with selected clinical features, disease activity, and organ damage in SLE.