Multimodal PA/US imaging in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Enhanced correlation with clinical scores.

Background: Accurate assessment of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) activity remains a challenge. Multimodal photoacoustic/ultrasound (PA/US) joint imaging emerges as a novel imaging modality capable of depicting microvascularization and oxygenation levels in inflamed joints associated with RA. However, the scarcity of large-scale studies limits the exploration of correlating joint oxygenation status with disease activity.

Clinical Significance of Different Profiles of anti-Ro Antibodies in Connective Tissue Diseases.

Objective: Anti-Ro60 and anti-Ro52 antibodies are associated with different connective tissue diseases (CTDs). However, the clinical significance of anti-Ro antibodies is not always consistent among different global regions. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical characteristics of patients with anti-Ro antibodies.

Analysis of Gene Expression and TCR/B Cell Receptor Profiling of Immune Cells in Primary Sjögren's Syndrome by Single-Cell Sequencing.

Primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) is a chronic autoimmune disease that is estimated to affect 35 million people worldwide and is characterized by lymphocytic infiltration, elevated circulating autoantibodies, and proinflammatory cytokines. The key immune cell subset changes and the TCR/BCR repertoire alterations in pSS patients remain unclear. In this study, we sought to comprehensively characterize the transcriptional changes in PBMCs of pSS patients by single-cell RNA sequencing and single-cell V(D)J sequencing.

Early detect left ventricular subclinical myocardial dysfunction in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus by a left ventricular pressure-strain loop.

Objective: Noninvasive myocardial work (MW) is a new technology which is based on strain after considering the load influence on myocardial deformation. We aimed to investigate the feasibility of quantitatively assessing left ventricular myocardial work (LVMW) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) using a left ventricular pressure-strain loop (LVPSL).

Methods: 76 patients with SLE were included in the study (A), further divided into two subgroups according to the presence of lupus nephritis (LN).

Recent Advances of Salivary Gland Biopsy in Sjögren's Syndrome.

Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is a chronic, systemic, inflammatory autoimmune disease characterized by lymphocyte proliferation and progressive damage to exocrine glands. The diagnosis of SS is challenging due to its complicated clinical manifestations and non-specific signs. Salivary gland biopsy plays an important role in the diagnosis of SS, especially with anti-Sjögren's syndrome antigen A (SSA) and anti-SSB antibody negativity.

Integrative Single-Cell RNA-Seq and ATAC-Seq Analysis of Peripheral Mononuclear Cells in Patients With Ankylosing Spondylitis.

Objective: Genetic studies on ankylosing spondylitis (AS) have identified more than 100 pathogenic genes. Building a bridge between these genes and biologically targeted therapies is the current research hotspot.

Methods: We integrated single-cell assaying transposase-accessible chromatin sequencing (scATAC-seq) and single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to explore the key genes and related mechanisms associated with AS pathogenesis.

Albumin/Globulin Ratio as Yin-Yang in Rheumatoid Arthritis and Its Correlation to Inflamm-Aging Cytokines.

Purpose: Inflamm-aging is a novel-concept in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with accelerating aging process. We try to find a correlation between serum albumin/globulin (A/G) ratio and clinical biochemical parameters, incidence of aging-related diseases (ARDs) as well as inflammaging-related molecules.

Patients And Methods: Healthy controls (HC) and RA patients were compared with their clinical biochemical parameters including albumin and globulin levels, A/G ratio, and levels of serum lipids.

Analysis of gut microbiota and metabolites in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and identification of potential biomarkers.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease described by joint destruction, synovitis and pannus formation. The gut microbiota acts as an environmental factor that plays an important role in RA, but little research regarding the etiopathogenic mechanisms of the microbiome in RA has been carried out. We used an integrated approach of 16S rRNA gene sequencing and ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-based metabolomics to analyze the structure and diversity of the intestinal flora and metabolites of the gut microbiota in RA patients compared with healthy subjects.

IL-17 drives salivary gland dysfunction via inhibiting TRPC1-mediated calcium movement in Sjögren's syndrome.

Objectives: This study aims to determine a role of interleukin-17A (IL-17) in salivary gland (SG) dysfunction and therapeutic effects of targeting IL-17 in SG for treating autoimmune sialadenitis in primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS).

Methods: Salivary IL-17 levels and IL-17-secreting cells in labial glands of pSS patients were examined. Kinetic changes of IL-17-producing cells in SG from mice with experimental Sjögren's syndrome (ESS) were analysed.

Case Report: Reversal of Long-Standing Refractory Diffuse Non-Scarring Alopecia Due to Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Following Treatment With Tofacitinib.

The Janus kinases (JAKs) are intracellular tyrosine kinases involved in a broad variety of inflammatory cascades participating in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Diffuse non-scarring alopecia is one of the most frequent cutaneous manifestations in SLE, resulting in devastating psychosocial consequences. Although recent studies have shown promising outcomes of the JAK inhibitors in SLE treatment, the efficacy of tofacitinib in diffuse non-scarring alopecia due to SLE has never been reported.

Integrated proteome and phosphoproteome analyses of peripheral blood mononuclear cells in primary Sjögren syndrome patients.

Primary Sjögren syndrome (pSS) is a common autoimmune disease. Here, we performed the first proteome and phosphoproteome analyses of peripheral blood mononuclear cells in pSS patients to obtain a comprehensive profile and identify the potential crucial proteins and pathways for the screening and evaluation of pSS patients. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 8 pSS-confirmed patients (American-European Consensus Group Criteria, 2002) and 10 normal controls were selected.

Dorsolateral medullary infarction during skin infection by Stenotrophomonas maltophilia in a patient with triple antiphospholipid antibody positivity: a case-based review.

Thrombotic events are the most frequent causes of death in patients with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). Previous studies have reported infection to be the most important trigger of thrombosis in APS, with molecular mimicry considered to be a major mechanism. Although timely management of infections has been recommended in patients with high suspicion of infection, anti-infective therapy would not take effect in a short time due to the dilemma in determining the origins of infection, especially in patients undergoing immunosuppressive therapy.

IL-17 sustains the plasma cell response via p38-mediated Bcl-xL RNA stability in lupus pathogenesis.

Recent studies have demonstrated a central role for plasma cells in the development of autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Currently, both the phenotypic features and functional regulation of autoreactive plasma cells during SLE pathogenesis remain largely unclear. In this study, we first found that a major subset of IL-17 receptor-expressing plasma cells potently produced anti-dsDNA IgG upon IL-17A (IL-17) stimulation in SLE patients and lupus mice.

Understanding Environmental Pollutions of Informal E-Waste Clustering in Global South via Multi-Scalar Regulatory Frameworks: A Case Study of Guiyu Town, China.

The recycling of e-waste by the informal sector has brought countries in the Global South raw materials (e.g. metals and plastics), second-hand electronic equipment and components, and economic opportunities in conjunction with appalling environmental pollutions and health problems.

Methotrexate Reduces the Clearance of Adalimumab by Increasing the Concentration of Neonatal Fc Receptor in Tissues.

Purpose: Although pharmacokinetic (PK) interaction effects of methotrexate (MTX) on adalimumab have been found, the mechanism of these effects is still unclear. In this work, effects of MTX on the concentration of neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn) and the role of FcRn in the interaction between MTX and adalimumab were investigated.

Methods: The experiment was performed in rats whose FcRn had normal physiological function and also in rats whose FcRn was blocked with FcRn antibody.

IL-10-producing regulatory B cells restrain the T follicular helper cell response in primary Sjögren's syndrome.

Increased numbers of T follicular helper (Tfh) cells have been implicated in the development of autoimmune diseases including primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS), but how the Tfh cell response is regulated during autoimmune pathogenesis remains largely unclear. Here, we first found negative correlations between IL-10 regulatory B (Breg) cell numbers and Tfh cell responses and disease activity in patients with pSS and mice with experimental Sjögren's syndrome (ESS). Moreover, we detected high expression of IL-10 receptor on Tfh cells and their precursors in both humans and mice.

Differential alterations in the morphology and electrophysiology of layer II pyramidal cells in the primary visual cortex of a mouse model prenatally exposed to LPS.

Maternal inflammation is a known risk factor for schizophrenia and autism. Since the visual processing has shown abnormalities in these disorders, we explored whether neuropathologic changes can be caused in the primary visual cortex in offsprings due to the maternal inflammation induced by a single lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection in pregnant mouse dams. The morphology and electrophysiological properties of layer II pyramidal cells (L2PC) in the primary visual cortex were investigated with whole-cell patch-clamping recording and 3D neuron reconstruction techniques.

Level set model with local fitting operation of median filter.

We analyzed the principle of the traditional local binary fitting operation, Gaussian kernel function weighted summation (GKFWS), to develop a novel level set model in this paper. In this model, the traditional GKFWS operation is replaced with the median filter operation in the second procedure of local fitting of the energy domain. Furthermore, we incorporated the edge stopping function of GAC model into it to introduce the edge information for segmentation.

Adaptive segmentation of magnetic resonance images with intensity inhomogeneity using level set method.

It is a big challenge to segment magnetic resonance (MR) images with intensity inhomogeneity. The widely used segmentation algorithms are region based, which mostly rely on the intensity homogeneity, and could bring inaccurate results. In this paper, we propose a novel region-based active contour model in a variational level set formulation.