Publications by authors named "Merlin Paz"

Acute pancreatitis can result secondary to an inflammatory cascade due to an insult to the pancreatic parenchyma, whether it be from infections, medications, etc. We present a case of a 37-year-old male with acute pancreatitis after being started on Paxlovid, a combination drug containing Nirmatrelvir and Ritonavir, for COVID-19 treatment. Multiple reports in the literature have documented such an association between acute pancreatitis and the protease inhibitor Ritonavir.

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Anti-dsDNA antibodies are pathogenically heterogeneous, implying distinct origins and antigenic properties. Unexpectedly, during the clinical and molecular characterization of autoantibodies to the endonuclease DNase1L3 in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), we identified a subset of neutralizing anti-DNase1L3 antibodies previously catalogued as anti-dsDNA. Based on their variable heavy-chain (V) gene usage, these antibodies can be divided in two groups.

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The origin and mechanisms of autoantigen generation in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are poorly understood. Here, we identified SLE neutrophils activated in vivo by IFN as a prominent source of Ro52, also known as tripartite motif-containing protein 21 (TRIM21), a critical autoantigen historically thought to be primarily generated by keratinocytes in SLE. Different from mononuclear cells and keratinocytes, SLE neutrophils are enriched in several unique Ro52 species containing a core sequence encoded by exon 4 (Ro52Ex4) in TRIM21.

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Article Synopsis
  • Long Interspersed Element 1 (LINE-1) and its associated protein ORF1p may play a role in the development of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), with ORF1p identified as an autoantigen.
  • In this study, anti-ORF1p antibodies were found in a higher percentage of SLE patients compared to healthy controls, but these antibodies were not linked to disease activity or levels of other autoantibodies.
  • The findings suggest that while ORF1p may be important in SLE, its antibodies do not correlate with disease severity, indicating a complex relationship between LINE-1 elements and lupus pathology.
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Periodontal disease has been implicated in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an autoimmune disease characterized by immune-mediated synovial damage, and antibodies to citrullinated antigens. Here, we investigate the association between exposure to the periodontal pathogen () and the development of RA. IgM, IgG and IgA antibodies to leukotoxin A (LtxA) were detected by ELISA in plasma from a cohort of Swedish adults at different stages of RA development, from before onset of symptoms to established disease.

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Recent clinical trials reported that increasing high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) levels does not improve cardiovascular outcomes. We hypothesize that HDL proteome dynamics determine HDL cardioprotective functions. In this study, we characterized proteome profiles in HDL subclasses and established their functional connection.

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