Quantification of autoantibodies using a luminescent profiling method in autoimmune interstitial lung disease.

Autoantibodies are important for the diagnosis of autoimmune interstitial lung disease (ILD). Standard immunoassays have limitations, including their qualitative nature and/or a narrow dynamic range of detection, hindering the usefulness of autoantibodies as biomarkers of disease activity. Here, the luciferase immunoprecipitation system (LIPS) was evaluated for measuring myositis-specific and other lung-related autoantibodies in 25 subjects with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM), 26 with Sjögren's disease (SjD), and 10 healthy volunteers.

Alterations in the plasma proteome persist ten months after recovery from mild to moderate SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Background: Limited data are available describing the effects of SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infections on the plasma proteome.

Methods: PCR-positive SARS-CoV-2 patients, enrolled in a natural history study, underwent analysis of the plasma proteome. A prospective cohort of 66 unvaccinated and 24 vaccinated persons with different degrees of infection severity were evaluated acutely (within 40 days of symptom onset), and at three and ten months.

Longitudinal analysis of the lung proteome reveals persistent repair months after mild to moderate COVID-19.

In order to assess homeostatic mechanisms in the lung after COVID-19, changes in the protein signature of bronchoalveolar lavage from 45 patients with mild to moderate disease at three phases (acute, recovery, and convalescent) are evaluated over a year. During the acute phase, inflamed and uninflamed phenotypes are characterized by the expression of tissue repair and host defense response molecules. With recovery, inflammatory and fibrogenic mediators decline and clinical symptoms abate.

Quantitative CT Metrics Associated with Variability in the Diffusion Capacity of the Lung of Post-COVID-19 Patients with Minimal Residual Lung Lesions.

(1) Background: A reduction in the diffusion capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide is a prevalent longer-term consequence of COVID-19 infection. In patients who have zero or minimal residual radiological abnormalities in the lungs, it has been debated whether the cause was mainly due to a reduced alveolar volume or involved diffuse interstitial or vascular abnormalities. (2) Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study of 45 patients with either zero or minimal residual lesions in the lungs (total volume < 7 cc) at two months to one year post COVID-19 infection.

Vaccination Ameliorates Cellular Inflammatory Responses in SARS-CoV-2 Breakthrough Infections.

Background: Data on cellular immune responses in persons with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection following vaccination are limited. The evaluation of these patients with SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infections may provide insight into how vaccinations limit the escalation of deleterious host inflammatory responses.

Methods: We conducted a prospective study of peripheral blood cellular immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection in 21 vaccinated patients, all with mild disease, and 97 unvaccinated patients stratified based on disease severity.

Long-term evaluation of pulmonary function and survival of patients with interstitial pneumonia with autoimmune features.

Objectives: Interstitial pneumonia with autoimmune features (IPAF) includes patients with interstitial lung disease with autoimmune features who do not meet criteria for a connective tissue disease (CTD). Previous studies showed a wide variation in the radiologic pattern, pulmonary function and prognosis but there is still limited data on longitudinal outcomes. We aim to describe the long-term pulmonary function, radiological patterns, and survival of IPAF patients and explore a classification based on CTD-like subgroups by using clinical/serologic data.

More prominent muscle involvement in patients with dermatomyositis with anti-Mi2 autoantibodies.

Objective: To define the clinical phenotype of dermatomyositis (DM) with anti-Mi2 autoantibodies.

Methods: In this longitudinal cohort study, the prevalence and severity of clinical features at disease onset and during follow-up in patients with anti-Mi2-positive DM were compared to patients with anti-Mi2-negative DM, antisynthetase syndrome (AS), and immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy (IMNM). Longitudinal anti-Mi2 autoantibody titers were assessed.

Long-Term Treatment With Azathioprine and Mycophenolate Mofetil for Myositis-Related Interstitial Lung Disease.

Background: The efficacy of azathioprine (AZA) and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) for interstitial lung disease (ILD) has been described, but mainly in connective tissue disease-associated ILD. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of AZA and MMF on lung function and prednisone dose in myositis-related ILD (M-ILD).

Methods: In this retrospective study, patients with M-ILD seen at Johns Hopkins and treated with AZA or MMF and no other steroid-sparing agents were included.

Efficacy and adverse effects of methotrexate compared with azathioprine in the antisynthetase syndrome.

Objectives: To study the efficacy in terms of muscle strength, and corticosteroid tapering as well as the prevalence of adverse effects in patients with the antisynthetase syndrome (ASyS) treated with azathioprine (AZA) compared to those treated with methotrexate (MTX).

Methods: We compared the clinical outcomes in ASyS patients treated with AZA versus MTX including change in corticosteroid dose, strength, and creatine kinase (CK) as well as the prevalence of adverse effects.

Results: Among 169 patients with ASyS, 102 were treated at some point exclusively with either AZA or MTX (± corticosteroids).

Risk factors for mortality and mortality rates in interstitial lung disease patients in the intensive care unit.

Data on interstitial lung disease (ILD) outcomes in the intensive care unit (ICU) is of limited value due to population heterogeneity. The aim of this study was to examine risk factors for mortality and ILD mortality rates in the ICU.We performed a systematic review using five databases.

A longitudinal cohort study of the anti-synthetase syndrome: increased severity of interstitial lung disease in black patients and patients with anti-PL7 and anti-PL12 autoantibodies.

Objective: The aim was to study the prevalence, rate of appearance and severity of clinical features in patients with different anti-synthetase syndrome (ASyS) autoantibodies.

Methods: All Johns Hopkins Myositis Longitudinal Cohort subjects positive for any ASyS autoantibodies were included. Clinical information, including symptoms, signs, strength, creatine kinase concentrations and pulmonary function tests, were prospectively collected.

Anatomic variations of the branches of the aortic arch in a Peruvian population.

Purpose: Previous publications from two countries in South America found one anatomical variation not previously reported in the rest of the world, which in turn give some clues with regard to a racial difference. The objective of the present study is to describe variations in the anatomical distribution of the branches of the aortic arch in a Peruvian population.

Objective: To describe variations in the anatomical distribution of the branches of the aortic arch in a Peruvian population.

[Effect of intravenous infusion of KCl on the electrocardiogram and serum potassium in dogs with normal renal function].

Variations in serum potassium (K+) and electrocardiographic changes at different infusion speeds of intravenous K+ were studied in dogs. Solutions of 20, 40, 60 and 80 mEq of K+ were infused in one hour to dogs with normal renal function and normal serum K+. Nine dogs were studied: three without prior hydration and six with previous hydration.

[Knowledge, practices and attitudes toward volunteer work in an influenza pandemic: cross-sectional study with Peruvian medical students].

Introduction: Reductions in health personnel during disasters or epidemics such as an influenza pandemic may need to include volunteer students.

Objective: The aim of this article is to determine knowledge and practices about pandemic influenza and the attitudes towards volunteer work in Peruvian medical students.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional analytic study by simple sampling using a survey regarding “"knowledge and practices"” about pandemic influenza and the attitudes to volunteer work.

Sodium chloride 0.9% versus Lactated Ringer in the management of severely dehydrated patients with choleriform diarrhoea.

Introduction: Although experience within Peru suggests clinical and physiological benefits of treating dehydration caused by diarrhoea with Lactated Ringer's solution (LR) over sodium chloride 0.9%, (NaCl) there is little documented scientific evidence supporting this view. It is important to clarify this issue and determine the best solution for use during epidemics.

Validation of the Spanish Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression and Zung Self-Rating Depression Scales: a comparative validation study.

Background: Depressive disorders are leading contributors to burden of disease in developing countries. Research aiming to improve their diagnosis and treatment is fundamental in these settings, and psychometric tools are widely used instruments to support mental health research. Our aim is to validate and compare the psychometric properties of the Spanish versions of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (ZSDS).

[A decade of no effective inpatient medical discharges, experience from a hospital in Lima, Peru].

Our aim is to describe the financial implications of no effective in patient discharges from 2001-2010 from a general hospital in lima city. For this purpose we analyzed the total amounts, cancellations and exonarations from the patient accounts with a non effective medical discharge because of hospital "debts". We found that the number of patients with a non effective medical discharge decreased 70% from 2001 to 2010, the number of days between the medical discharge until the day the patient left the hospital decreased 80%.

Validation of the salivary urea test as a method to diagnose chronic kidney disease.

Background: Serum urea correlates very well to salivary urea, which can be used as a low-cost, easily accessible and noninvasive diagnostic method for screening patients in early stages of kidney disease, especially in developing countries where resources are limited, giving the possibility of establishing secondary prevention programs later.

Methods: One hundred and one people were enrolled: 11 with creatinine clearance (CrCl) less than 10 ml/min per 1.73 m(2); 10 with CrCl of 11-20 ml/min per 1.