Decrease in circulating DNA, IL-10 and BAFF levels in newly-diagnosed SLE patients after corticosteroid and chloroquine treatment.

Arsenal of pattern-recognition receptors alongside antibody production machinery make B cells vulnerable to autoimmune response if an autoantigen elicits both pathways in a self-sustained fashion. Systemic lupus erythematosus is an autoimmune disease characterized by autoantibodies to DNA, RNA and related structures. Murine studies demonstrated autoreactive B cell activation upon TLR9 stimulation with DNA-containing immune complexes.

Low back pain as the presenting sign in a patient with primary extradural melanoma of the thoracic spine--a metastatic disease 17 years after complete surgical resection.

Primary spinal melanomas are extremely rare lesions. In 1906, Hirschberg reported the first primary spinal melanoma, and since then only 40 new cases have been reported. A 47-year-old man was admitted suffering from low back pain, fatigue and loss of body weight persisting for three months.

Propylthiouracil-induced anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) skin vasculitis: the first case reported in Croatia.

Drug-induced vasculitis is a known side effect of prolonged treatment with several drugs. It is characterized by inflammation and cellular infiltration of small vessels and presence of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA). Propylthiouracil and hydralazine (anti-thyroid and antihypertensive drugs) are the drugs most commonly associated with drug-induced vasculitis.

Rare zoonosis (hemotrophic mycoplasma infection) in a newly diagnosed systemic lupus erythematosus patient followed by a Nocardia asteroides pneumonia.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is per se a disease characterized by suppressed immune response and thus susceptibility to various opportunistic infections. We describe the case of a 21-year old woman who developed a rare zoonosis - hemotrophic mycoplasma infection in the initial stage of SLE, complicated with Nocardia asteroides pneumonia afterwards. Nocardia infection coincided with initiation of glucocorticoids and cyclophosphamide therapy for SLE.

[Polymyalgia rheumatica].

The etiology, pathogenesis, epidemiology, clinical picture, diagnosis, differential diagnosis and treatment of polymyalgia reumatica are presented.

[Myopathy with rhabdomyolysis as an adverse effect of simultaneous treatment with cerivastatin and gemfibrozil].

Drug-induced myopathy and/or rhabdomyolysis have been reported with use of some statins and fibric acid derivatives. The risk of adverse effects is increased with their concomitant use. We report the case of myopathy with rhabdomyolysis during the concomitant use of cerivastatin and gemfibrozil.

Non-MS autoimmune demyelination.

Connective tissue diseases can be characterised by central nervous system (CNS) involvement, in some patients manifested by demyelination areas in the white matter of the brain and spinal cord, which are difficult to differentiate from multiple sclerosis (MS) and other demyelinating processes, such as transverse myelitis and optic neuritis. Demyelinating process may be the feature of nervous impairment in systemic lupus erythematosus, Behcet's disease (BD), Sjoegren's syndrome (SS), systemic sclerosis (SSc) or very rarely other systemic autoimmune diseases. An acute isolated neurological syndrome, as the most common symptom of MS can sometimes be the only feature or even first manifestation of nervous impairment in connective tissue disease, hence presenting the diagnostic problem.

[Cryptococcal meningitis as a diagnostic problem in a patient with SLE--case report].

Systemic erythematosus lupus (SLE) is a disease with wide range of clinical manifestations, signs and symptoms. Disease outcome depends mostly on the affection of kidneys and central nervous system by the disease. Very important cause of death in patients with SLE is infection.

[Surgical treatment of ophthalmologic complications in Behcet's disease].

Behcet's syndrome is a chronic multisystem disease with recurrent oral and genital ulcerations and recurrent, usually bilateral uveitis. A 31-year-old female patient with uveitis who underwent vitrectomy is presented.