Long-term Outcomes of Lupus Nephritis in Comparison to Other CKD Etiologies.

Introduction: Little is known regarding the comparison of cardiovascular and kidney outcomes between lupus nephritis (LN) and other etiologies of chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Methods: Using data from the Swedish Renal Registry (2006-2021), we compared long-term outcomes between patients with LN-CKD and patients with CKD due to primary glomerular diseases (PGD) and other CKD causes (Other-CKD, mainly diabetes and nephroangiosclerosis). Adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) of mortality, major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and kidney replacement therapy (KRT) were estimated using Cox proportional hazard models.

Association between peripheral activated naive and double negative 2 B-cell subsets and clinical parameters in lupus nephritis patients.

Altered composition of B-cell compartments is a known feature in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, deep characterisation of B-cell subsets and their relation to clinical manifestations and disease activity in patients is limited. In this study, we analysed peripheral B-cell subsets phenotype in SLE (n = 35) and healthy controls (HCs, n = 15) by spectral flow cytometry.

Urinary aberrations in systemic lupus erythematosus not always indicative of lupus nephritis: a cross-sectional cohort study.

Introduction: Kidney biopsy is the reference tool for diagnosing and guiding treatment strategies in inflammatory renal diseases, such as lupus nephritis (LN). We investigated the histopathological findings in first-time kidney biopsies from a large cohort of SLE patients. We focused on the occurrence and type of histopathological findings other than LN, and fulfillment of renal criteria in established SLE classification systems were analyzed.

Certolizumab pegol, abatacept, tocilizumab or active conventional treatment in early rheumatoid arthritis: 48-week clinical and radiographic results of the investigator-initiated randomised controlled NORD-STAR trial.

Background: The optimal first-line treatment in early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is debated. We compared clinical and radiographic outcomes of active conventional therapy with each of three biological treatments with different modes of action.

Methods: Investigator-initiated, randomised, blinded-assessor study.

Coexistence and correlates of forms of malnutrition among mothers and under-five child pairs in Tanzania.

Improving the health and well-being of mothers and children is a priority worldwide. The present study aimed to examine the coexistence and correlates of malnutrition among mothers and under-five child pairs using Tanzania Demographic Health Survey 2015-16 data. Height-for-age, height-for-weight and weight-for-age -scores were used to assess the nutritional status of children, while body mass index was used to assess the nutritional status of mothers.

Interleukin (IL) 16: a candidate urinary biomarker for proliferative lupus nephritis.

Objective: Lupus nephritis (LN) is a severe manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The pathogenesis is incompletely understood and diagnostic biomarkers are scarce. We investigated interleukin (IL) 16 as a potential biomarker for LN in a well-characterised cohort of patients with SLE.

Rituximab in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: Transient Effects on Autoimmunity Associated Lymphocyte Phenotypes and Implications for Immunogenicity.

B cell abnormalities are common in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and include expansion of double negative (DN) and age-associated-like B cells (ABC-like). We aimed to investigate rituximab (RTX) effects on DN and ABC-like B-cell subsets and, when possible, also secondary effects on T cells. Fifteen SLE patients, fulfilling the ACR 1982 criteria, starting RTX and followed longitudinally up to two years, were analyzed for B- and T- lymphocyte subsets using multicolor flow cytometry.

Implant Periapical Lesion: Clinical and Histological Analysis of Two Case Reports Carried Out with Two Different Approaches.

Periapical implantitis (IPL) is an increasingly frequent complication of dental implants. The causes of this condition are not yet entirely clear, although a bacterial component is certainly part of the etiology. In this case series study, two approaches will be described: because of persistent IPL symptoms, a patient had the implant removed and underwent histological analysis after week 6 from implantation.

False Positive Results in SARS-CoV-2 Serological Tests for Samples From Patients With Chronic Inflammatory Diseases.

Patients with chronic inflammatory diseases are often treated with immunosuppressants and therefore are of particular concern during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Serological tests will improve our understanding of the infection and immunity in this population, unless they tests give false positive results. The aim of this study was to evaluate the specificity of SARS-Cov-2 serological assays using samples from patients with chronic inflammatory diseases collected prior to April 2019, thus defined as negative.

Arthritis in systemic lupus erythematosus is characterized by local IL-17A and IL-6 expression in synovial fluid.

Arthritis is a common clinical feature of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and is usually non-erosive, as opposed to rheumatoid arthritis (RA). While RA synovial pathology has been extensively studied, little is known about the pathophysiology of lupus arthritis. Here, we aimed to explore the cytokine and cellular compartments in synovial fluids of SLE patients with arthritic manifestations.

Active conventional treatment and three different biological treatments in early rheumatoid arthritis: phase IV investigator initiated, randomised, observer blinded clinical trial.

Objective: To evaluate and compare benefits and harms of three biological treatments with different modes of action versus active conventional treatment in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis.

Design: Investigator initiated, randomised, open label, blinded assessor, multiarm, phase IV study.

Setting: Twenty nine rheumatology departments in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands, and Iceland between 2012 and 2018.

Immediate fixed rehabilitation supported by pterygoid implants for participants with severe maxillary atrophy: 1-Year postloading results from a prospective cohort study.

Statement Of Problem: Few investigations concerning the use of pterygoid implants have reported reproducible and consistent data, making survival data controversial.

Purpose: The purpose of this clinical study was to investigate the 1-year survival and success rates of pterygoid implants and prostheses in participants affected by severe atrophy of the posterior maxilla requiring a complete-arch immediate fixed prosthesis.

Material And Methods: Fifteen participants, either completely edentulous or with failing dentition in the maxillary arch and with severe atrophy of the posterior maxilla, were enrolled in the study.

The influence of thermal comfort conditions on user's exposure time in open spaces.

This paper discusses the influence of the user thermal comfort conditions on the time spent in open spaces through a case study performed in Bauru, Sao Paulo, Brazil. The study was carried out in two subspaces of a zoo, under warm and wet conditions. Although the subspaces had different levels of shading, they were of similar interest to visitors.

The main will of the patients of a private Italian IVF clinic for their aneuploid/affected blastocysts would be donation to research: a currently forbidden choice.

Purpose: Surplus cryopreserved affected/aneuploid blastocysts may be obtained after in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments with preimplantation genetic testing (PGT). These embryos are considered not suitable for transfer and may be discarded. Currently, in Italy, an embryo disposition decision (EDD) is not allowed and the frozen/vitrified blastocysts (even if affected/aneuploid) should be kept cryopreserved indefinitely.

Immediate fixed rehabilitation of severe maxillary atrophies using trans-sinus tilted implants with or without sinus bone grafting: One-year results from a randomised controlled trial.

Background: To compare the clinical outcomes between tilted trans-sinus implants inserted without simultaneous bone grafting versus sinus elevation procedures with bone grafting to support immediately loaded prostheses for the rehabilitation of the atrophic maxilla.

Materials And Methods: Thirty-two subjects were selected to receive an immediately loaded fixed restoration supported by four or six implants and randomised to receive at least one trans-sinus implant without simultaneous bone grafting (group 1, n = 16) or at least one trans-sinus implant with sinus elevation procedures and bone grafting (group 2, n = 16). Primary outcomes were prosthesis and implant failures.

Joint Mobilization of the Hands of Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis: Results From an Assessor-Blinded, Randomized Crossover Trial.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the clinical feasibility and effectiveness of manual mobilization of the hands of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: A total of 320 individual hand joints were evaluated after recruiting an experimental research group of 12 participants with RA and, for clinical comparability, 8 participants with hand osteoarthritis (OA). One hand per participant was randomized to receive weekly low-grade (I-II) Kaltenborn manual mobilization, using passive sustained stretch of the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints II to V by licensed manual therapists.

Central pancreatectomy for benign or low-grade malignant pancreatic lesions - A single-center retrospective analysis of 116 cases.

Background: Central pancreatectomy (CP) is a parenchyma-sparing surgery for benign or low-grade malignant pancreatic tumors. This study aimed to evaluate the safety of the procedure and to analyze the long-term pancreatic function. The age-specific incidence ratio (IR) was calculated based on the incidence of diabetes mellitus in the general Italian population of Italy.

Simultaneous quantification of bone erosions and enthesiophytes in the joints of patients with psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis - effects of age and disease duration.

Background: Comprehensive simultaneous quantification of bone erosion and enthesiophytes in the joints of patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) has not been performed. Herein, we aimed to compare the extent of bone erosion and enthesiophytes in patients with PsA, psoriasis (PSO) and healthy controls, assess the influence of age and disease duration on the development of erosions and enthesiophytes and define their impact on physical function.

Methods: Patients with PsA or with PSO and controls were analysed by high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT).

Rituximab-mediated late-onset neutropenia in systemic lupus erythematosus - distinct roles of BAFF and APRIL.

Objective Rituximab-mediated late-onset neutropenia (LON) has been described in various diseases. We investigated its occurrence, consequences and contributing factors in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods Rituximab-treated patients from the Karolinska University Hospital ( n = 107) were surveyed.

Progesterone for preparation of the endometrium for frozen-thawed blastocyst transfer in vitro fertilization cycles: a prospective study on patients' opinions on a new subcutaneous formulation.

We aimed to evaluate patients' perspectives on a progesterone subcutaneous formulation for endometrial preparation for frozen-thawed blastocyst transfer. In this prospective study, women with at least one experience with vaginal progesterone, undergone endometrial preparation with oral estradiol valerate and daily subcutaneous progesterone administered from the fifth day before the transfer until the day of the beta-hCG test. Patients completed three questionnaires, at enrollment (Q1), for gathering information on the experience with vaginal treatment and expectations about the subcutaneous route and then at the time of the transfer (Q2) and eight days later (Q3).