Impact of glucocorticoids on muscle biopsy findings in antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis.

Several studies have examined the utility of quadriceps femoris muscle biopsies for diagnosing antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV). We aimed to investigate the effects of glucocorticoid therapy on the muscle biopsy findings of patients with AAV. Data from patients with AAV who underwent a biopsy of the bilateral vastus lateralis of the quadriceps femoris at Tokyo Metropolitan Tama Medical Center between January 2015 and December 2023 were retrospectively analyzed.

Femoral bone mineral density as a tool of personalized medicine for rheumatoid arthritis: Interleukin-6 inhibitors for patients with low density whereas tumor necrosis factor inhibitor for patients with preserved density?

Objectives: There is a lack of indicators to distinguish between interleukin-6 inhibitors responders and tumor necrosis factor inhibitors responders in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Osteoporosis is a complication of rheumatoid arthritis and is closely related to inflammatory pathology. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether bone mineral density can distinguish interleukin-6 inhibitors responders from tumor necrosis factor inhibitors responders in rheumatoid arthritis.

Associations of Polymorphisms with Chronic Kidney Disease in Japanese Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients.

Objectives: The prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) was reported to be higher in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients than in normal healthy individuals. Human leukocyte antigen () was associated with RA or CKD. Few studies on the association of with CKD in RA have been reported.

Synovial fluid crystal analysis with compensated polarization using a gout analyser in clinical practice.

Objective: To validate the gout analyzer as a clinical method of synovial fluid crystal analysis.

Methods: Thirty knee synovial fluid samples with suspected calcium pyrophosphate (CPP) crystals were analyzed. Within 48 hours after collection, each non-centrifuged sample was examined blindly and independently by one or more rheumatologists in the following order: 1) with an optical microscope under ordinary light, 2) with the same microscope under compensated polarization provided by a gout analyzer, and 3) with a fully equipped compensated polarized microscope with a rotating stage as the gold standard.

Fatal cerebral venous sinus thrombosis with preceding thrombocytopenia in a patient with new-onset eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis.

A previously healthy, 44-year-old, female patient was hospitalised for acute abdominal pain and bilateral pneumonia. Eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) was diagnosed on the basis of eosinophilia, eosinophilic tissue inflammation, polyneuropathy, and bilateral pneumonia. She had a fatal cerebral venous sinus thrombosis following thrombocytopenia, which was apparently caused by platelet consumption.

There's not always one enemy: Co-infection of campylobacter jejuni and non-typhoidal salmonella in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus.

A 22-year-old, female patient with systemic lupus erythematosus experienced bacterial enteritis. A stool Gram stain revealed Campylobacter. Non-typhoidal Salmonella was detected in a stool culture, and Campylobacter jejuni was detected in a blood culture.

Pharmacokinetics of hydroxychloroquine in Japanese systemic lupus erythematosus patients with renal impairment.

Objectives: Reduction of the hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) dosage is recommended in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with renal impairment, but a pharmacokinetics (PK) study of patients with renal impairment has not yet been performed.

Methods: We investigated the PK of both single and multiple doses of HCQ and its metabolites in SLE patients with renal impairment who newly started HCQ at a daily dose of 300 mg based on an ideal body weight dosage of 6.5 mg/kg.