Forearm porphyrin levels evaluated by digital imaging system are increased in patients with systemic sclerosis compared with patients in pre-clinical stage.

We hypothesized that changes in skin characteristics on the forearm could be useful for early diagnosis of systemic sclerosis (SSc). We used VISIA digital imaging system to investigate this possibility for the first time. Twenty-eight Japanese patients who were diagnosed with typical or very early diagnosis of SSc (VEDOSS) were enrolled in this study, and ten age- and gender-matched patients with other disorders were included as a control group.

Up-regulation of IGF-1, RANTES and VEGF in patients with anti-centromere antibody-positive early/mild systemic sclerosis.

Objective: Multiple cytokine network may control the pathogenesis of vasculopathy in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). We aimed at comparing angiogenic cytokine profile among SSc patients at various clinical stage.

Methods: We divided nine patients with anti-centromere antibody (ACA) who were suspected of SSc and diagnosed as having SSc into three groups (group1: pre-clinical stage of SSc, group2: mild/early SSc and group3: typical lcSSc) according to the ACR/EULAR2013 classification criteria or ACR1980 preliminary classification, and serum sample were obtained from them.