[Structured treatment of diabetes in the country].

The aim of the DIALA project was to demonstrate the feasibility of structured treatment and teaching programs for type 2 diabetic patients in order to improve the overall quality of care. The investigation was carried out in Upper Austria. The results and findings of structured treatment were evaluated as well as the associated costs of current diabetes management.

Cytokine production by synovial T cells in rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: To investigate the production of cytokines by T cells in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), reactive arthritis (REA) and osteoarthritis (OA).

Methods: The lymphokines interleukin (IL)-2, IL-4, interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) and tumour necrosis factor beta (TNF-beta), as well as the monokines IL-1, IL-6 and TNF-alpha, were measured by immunoassays in sera and synovial fluid (SF) from patients with RA, REA and OA. In addition, cytokine expression was studied by immunohistochemistry in synovial membrane tissue sections from patients with RA and OA.

Folic acid and cyanocobalamin levels in serum and erythrocytes during low-dose methotrexate therapy of rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis patients.

Objective: To compare folic acid (FA) levels in patients being treated with methotrexate (MTX) with those of untreated patients in order to investigate potential folate depletion by MTX and its possible relationship to the drug's efficacy.

Methods: In 33 patients on low-dose MTX therapy and in 24 controls, FA and cyanocobalamin (B12) levels were determined in serum and red blood cells (RBC). In addition, MTX levels in the RBC and serum were measured, and clinical and laboratory measures of disease activity were evaluated.

Soluble receptors for tumor necrosis factor and interleukin-2 in serum and synovial fluid of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, reactive arthritis and osteoarthritis.

Objective: To compare levels of soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor (TNF-R) and soluble interleukin 2 receptor (sIL-2R) in sera and synovial fluids (SF) of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), reactive arthritis (ReA), and osteoarthritis (OA) in order to investigate the usefulness of soluble cytokine receptors for differentiation diagnosis and their involvement in the pathophysiology of rheumatic diseases.

Methods: Soluble TNF-R (55 kDa), sIL-2R, and TNF-alpha were measured by ELISA in sera and SF of patients with RA, ReA, and OA and correlated with serological and clinical disease activity variables.

Results: Serum TNF-R was significantly (p < 0.

Autoantibody to the nuclear antigen RA33: a marker for early rheumatoid arthritis.

Sera from 47 patients with early (< 3 months) arthritis of any type were investigated for anti-RA33, a new anti-nuclear autoantibody characteristic of RA, and the diagnoses determined within the following 8-14 months. In addition, seven patients with unclassified arthritis of > 4 months duration, who were all anti-RA33 positive, were followed for up to 2 years to establish their final rheumatologic diagnoses. Four of 47 early arthritis patients' sera were anti-RA33 positive at the initial evaluation; 14 of these 47 patients (30%) could be classified as RA (according to established criteria) at the final evaluation.