Characteristics of MPO-ANCA-positive granulomatosis with polyangiitis: a retrospective multi-center study in Japan.

We studied the clinico-pathological differences among PR3-ANCA-positive granulomatosis with polyangiitis (PR3-GPA), MPO-ANCA-positive GPA (MPO-GPA) and microscopic polyangiitis (MPA). ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) was classified using the European Medicines Agency classification. We retrospectively analyzed 38 patients with GPA and 41 with MPA treated in eight hospitals in Japan.

Association of killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor 2DL5 with systemic lupus erythematosus and accompanying infections.

Objective: Identification of the association of killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) genes with SLE and accompanying infections.

Methods: Presence or absence of all 14 KIR genes was studied for association with SLE by case-control studies. A total of 417 SLE cases, 72 RA cases and 256 controls, all of Japanese descent, were enrolled.

A functional M196R polymorphism of tumour necrosis factor receptor type 2 is associated with systemic lupus erythematosus: a case-control study and a meta-analysis.

Objectives: To perform a case-control study of a functional M196R polymorphism of tumour necrosis factor receptor type 2 (TNF-RII) in a Japanese population and a meta-analysis of all published reports on the polymorphism to investigate the association of the M196R polymorphism of TNF-RII with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Methods: The functional M196R polymorphism of TNF-RII was genotyped by using polymerase chain reaction combined with the subsequent single-strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) analysis for screening, followed by nucleotide sequencing for confirmation. A total of 331 patients and 359 controls were subjected to a case-control study.

Systemic vasculitis associated with alphal-antitrypsin deficiency.

We describe a rare case of systemic vasculitis associated with alpha1-antitrypsin (alpha1-AT) deficiency. Mutational analysis of the alpha1-AT gene in this patient revealed a homozygous alpha1-AT Mnichinan variant. Alpha1-AT possesses broad-spectrum inhibitory activity against many serine proteases, including human neutrophil elastase, to help maintaining the crucial balance between proteases and protease inhibitors.

[Microbiological and clinical studies of Haemophilus influenzae isolated at Kitakyushu Municipal Medical Center from 1996 through 1999].

Epidemiological and microbiological studies were carried out using 575 strains of Haemophilus influenzae isolated from clinical specimens at Kitakyushu municipal medical center from January 1996 through December 1999. The strains isolated multiply were excluded. The strains of H.