A two sample mendelian randomization analysis investigates causal effects between gut microbiome and immune related Vasculitis.

Observational data suggest a link between gut microbiota and immune-related vasculitis, but causality remains unclear. A bidirectional mendelian randomization study was conducted using public genome-wide data. The inverse-variance-weighted (IVW) method identified associations and addressed heterogeneity.

Serum concentrations of small dense low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and lipoprotein(a) are related to coronary arteriostenosis in Takayasu arteritis.

Background: Serum small dense low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (sdLDL-C) and lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] levels are related to coronary disease, but their specific associations with coronary arteriostenosis in Takayasu arteritis (TA) have not been ascertained. This study explored the correlations between serum sdLDL-C and Lp(a) levels and coronary arteriostenosis in TA patients as well as the degree of artery stenosis.

Methods: This retrospective study included 190 TA patients and 154 healthy subjects.

Serum C1q concentration is associated with disease activity in Chinese Takayasu arteritis patients: A case-control study.

Background: C1q is a crucial component of the classical complement pathway. This study is the first to assess the association between disease activity and serum levels of C1q in Chinese Takayasu arteritis (TA) patients.

Methods: Serum C1q levels in 198 TA patients and 154 healthy controls were assessed, and the relationship between serum C1q levels and indices of TA disease activity was analyzed.

The relationships of serum homocysteine levels and traditional lipid indicators with disease activity and coronary artery involvement in Takayasu arteritis.

Serum homocysteine (HCY) levels have been associated with the occurrence of coronary stenosis and disease activity in large-vessel vasculitis. However, whether increases in serum HCY levels and traditional lipid indicators are associated with coronary artery involvement and disease activity in Chinese Han Takayasu arteritis (TA) patients is unknown. This study aims to investigate the clinical and laboratory features of TA by assessing their association with disease activity in TA patients, and to explore the risk factors associated with coronary artery involvement in these patients.

Correlation Between Extended Leukocyte Differential Count and Coronary Artery Disease.

Background: Leukocyte count is closely associated with the risk of coronary artery disease (CAD). Levels of leukocyte subpopulations in patients with CAD, however, remain largely unknown.

Methods: In this study, we compared the distributions and counts of 16 leukocyte subpopulations between 40 patients with CAD and 40 healthy controls using the CytoDiff flow cytometric system.

Relationship of HLA-B*51 and HLA-B*52 alleles and TNF-α-308A/G polymorphism with susceptibility to Takayasu arteritis: a meta-analysis.

We performed a meta-analysis to determine whether combined evidence shows an association between HLA-B*51 and HLA-B*52 alleles and TNF-α-308A/G polymorphism and the susceptibility to Takayasu arteritis (TA). Relevant articles dated November 2015 were acquired from the PubMed, Embase and Cochrane databases. The number of genotypes and/or alleles for HLA-B*51 and HLA-B*52 alleles and TNF-α-308 A/G polymorphism in cases and control subjects was extracted, and statistical analysis was conducted using STATA 11.

A genome-wide association study in Han Chinese identifies a susceptibility locus for primary Sjögren's syndrome at 7q11.23.

Primary Sjögren's syndrome is one of the most common autoimmune diseases. So far, genetic studies of Sjögren's syndrome have relied mostly on candidate gene approaches. To identify new genetic susceptibility loci for primary Sjögren's syndrome, we performed a three-stage genome-wide association study in Han Chinese.

A single-nucleotide polymorphism of the STAT4 gene is associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in female Chinese population.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a prototypic autoimmune disease with complex genetic inheritance. Genetic association of signal transducer and activator of transcription 4 (STAT4) with SLE susceptibility has been convincingly established in multiple populations including Asians, whereas studies of genetic relations between STAT4 polymorphisms and subphenotypes of SLE were rarely conducted. In this study, we selected Chinese female population and investigated genetic association between a polymorphism of STAT4 gene (rs7582694) and SLE.

Association of genetic variations in the STAT4 and IRF7/KIAA1542 regions with systemic lupus erythematosus in a Northern Han Chinese population.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a prototypic autoimmune disease with complex genetic inheritance. Genome-wide association studies have identified SLE susceptibility variations at the IRF7/KIAA1542 locus and with STAT4 gene in European populations. We decided to investigate the association of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the IRF7/KIAA1542 region (rs4963128, rs2246614, and rs702966) and in STAT4 (rs7574865 and rs7582694) with SLE disease in a Northern Han Chinese population of 748 patients and 750 healthy controls.

Expression of matrix metalloproteinase-1 mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of systemic lupus erythematosus patients and its relationship with atherosclerosis.

Background: Matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) plays an important role in atherosclerosis. This study was to examine expression of MMP-1 mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and to explore its relationship with atherosclerosis in SLE.

Methods: Fluorescent quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to examine the expression of MMP-1 mRNA in PBMCs in 80 SLE patients, including 39 prone to atherosclerosis (Group A) and 41 unprone to atherosclerosis (Group B).