Long-term results of infliximab therapy in rheumatoid arthritis: experience acquired by the North-Pas-de-Calais hospital network.

Objective: Infliximab is effective in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Add-on infliximab therapy in patients on methotrexate results in a rapid gain in effectiveness, which lasts at least 1 year. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and continuation rate of infliximab in patients with RA after the first year of treatment.

Osteomesopyknosis: report of a new case with bone histology.

A new case of osteomesopyknosis, a rare autosomal dominant axial osteosclerosis is reported, with 4 affected members of the same family. Biochemical investigations, bone mineral content (BMC) measurement, 99mTc HMDP bone scan and microscopy of iliac crest bone and femoral head have been performed on 1 subject. A marked increase of BMC was found, without abnormality of biochemical data.

[Comparison of radiologic lesions of rheumatoid polyarthritis in function of the presence or the absence of the rheumatoid factor IgA].

The authors compared, with the help of five radiological indices bearing on part (hand and wrists) or the all the articulations of the limbs concerned by rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a group of 45 RA with rheumatoid factor IgA (RF IgA) with a group of 45 RA without RF IgA by matching them according to age, sex and duration of evolution. They did not find any significant difference between the two groups for any of the indices. Although they are more often associated with agglutinant RF IgM, the RA with RF IgA are not more severe on the radiological level than the RA without FR IgA.

Raynaud's phenomenon in primary Sjögren's syndrome.

Forty-five consecutive primary Sjögren's syndrome (SS) patients were divided into two subgroups according to the presence (n = 30) of Raynaud's phenomenon (RP). Non-erosive arthritis was significantly more frequent in the patients with RP than in those without. RP was not associated with HLA-DR4 in primary SS patients.

The antiperinuclear factor. I. Clinical and serologic associations.

The antiperinuclear factor (APF) test raises two main problems: the unpredictability of the cells used as substrate and the difficulty in expressing the results. We propose that 10% of the cells have to be stained by a given serum in order for it to be considered positive. APF were found to be present in 76% of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, 3% of healthy controls and occasionally in disease controls.

[Tiopronin, an example of hydrosulphonated derivatives used in the treatment of rheumatoid polyarthritis. Study of immunologic effects].

Fifteen patients with rheumatoid arthritis were treated with tiopronine, and an immunological check-up carried out before the onset and after a two-month treatment. The latex test titres decreased, and there was a significant fall in the levels of IgA-containing circulating immune complexes, in parallel with a depletion of plasma complement breakdown products. Patients displayed a decrease in CD8+T cells and in CD4+Leu 8-T cells and a high proportion of activated T lymphocytes.

Raised C-reactive protein response in rheumatoid arthritis patients with secondary Sjögren's syndrome.

The levels of serum C-reactive protein (CRP) were found to be significantly higher in the presence than in the absence of secondary Sjögren's syndrome in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, while the values of erythrocyte sedimentation rate and serum fibrinogen were not significantly different. The levels of CRP were found to be normal in 22 out of 24 patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome.

Antibodies to histones in rheumatoid arthritis.

Using a newly developed enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, antibodies to histones (H1, H2A, H2B, H3 and H4) were found in 32 out of 40 rheumatoid arthritis patients with antinuclear antibodies at a titer greater than or equal to 100 as measured by indirect immunofluorescence. The anti-H2A reactivity was higher in patients with secondary Sjögren's syndrome than in those without, but the highest antihistone reactivity and the most heterogeneous patterns were observed in patients who were receiving D-penicillamine.

[Pyoderma gangrenosum and pelvispondylitis without patent intestinal disease. Apropos of a case].

The authors report a case of pyoderma gangrenosum associated with a positive B27 pelvispondylitis. The search for a hemorrhagic rectocolitis, possible link between the two syndromes, revealed to be negative. Pelvispondylitis is an unusual complication of pyoderma gangrenosum.