Improvement of complex regional pain syndrome after plasmapheresis.

Complex regional pain syndrome is a severe complication following trauma that is associated with vasomotor, sudomotor and sensory disturbances in an affected limb or region of the body. The exact physiopathology is not fully understood yet. Recently, autoantibody findings suggested an immune-mediated physiopathology of the disease.

Autoimmunity against the β2 adrenergic receptor and muscarinic-2 receptor in complex regional pain syndrome.

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a painful condition affecting one or more extremities of the body, marked by a wide variety of symptoms and signs that are often difficult to manage because the pathophysiology is incompletely understood. Thus, diverse treatments might be ineffective. A recent report revealed the presence of autoantibodies against differentiated autonomic neurons in CRPS patients.

Skeletal muscle cell MHC I expression: implications for statin-induced myopathy.

Statins can induce necrotizing or inflammatory myopathies in some patients. Increased major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC I) expression has been shown in muscle biopsies of statin-induced myopathy. Therefore, we investigated the effect of statins on the expression of MHC I in muscle cells.

Influence of statins on MHC class I expression.

Statins, inhibitors of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase, are widely prescribed for their cholesterol-lowering properties to reduce atherogenesis and cardiovascular morbidity. However, compelling evidence exists that statins also have extensive immunomodulatory properties that operate independently of lipid lowering. Consequently, much attention has been directed toward their immunomodulatory effect and their potential as therapeutic agents for the treatment of autoimmune diseases.

Autoantibodies in complex regional pain syndrome bind to a differentiation-dependent neuronal surface autoantigen.

Complex regional pain syndrome, which is characterised by pain and trophic disturbances, develops frequently after peripheral limb trauma. There is an increasing evidence of an involvement of the immune system in CRPS, and recently we showed that CRPS patients have autoantibodies against nervous system structures. Therefore we tested the sera of CRPS patients, neuropathy patients and healthy volunteers for surface-binding autoantibodies to primary cultures of autonomic neurons and differentiated neuroblastoma cell lines using flow cytometry.