Autoantibodies profile of rheumatoid arthritis patients during treatment with infliximab.

Purpose: Therapy with TNFa blocking agents has been associated with increased rate of anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA) and rare cases of lupus like syndromes. Our aim was to prospectively analyze a wide array of autoantibodies in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients before and 14 weeks after starting infliximab.

Material And Methods: In this study, 26 consecutive active RA patients participated.

Undiagnosed systemic lupus erythematosus in a cohort of infertile women.

Problem: Systemic lupus erythematosous (SLE) is a chronic disease with a broad spectrum of clinical and immunological manifestations, therefore, this condition may be frequently misdiagnosed. The current study was conducted to determine the prevalence of undiagnosed SLE among a cohort of infertile women.

Method Of Study: Screening was performed using sequential (two stage) testing, which included a self-completed questionnaire followed by an antinuclear antibody (ANA) test.

Antibody dependent cell mediated cytotoxicity and phagocytosis of senescent erythrocytes by autologous peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

Human red blood cells (RBCs) have a life span of 120 days in circulation, after which they are removed primarily by resident macrophages. Autoimmune antibodies are commonly found on effete RBCs and appear to contribute to their removal from the circulation. In this article, we focused on senescent erythrocytes and studied their removal, in comparison to young RBCs, in two RBC-depletion in vitro assays: antibody dependent cell mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) and erythrophagocytosis.

Anti-heart antibodies in postpericardiotomy syndrome: cause or epiphenomenon? A prospective, longitudinal pilot study.

Objectives: To assess the role of anti-heart antibodies (AHA) in postpericardiotomy syndrome (PPS) and the timing of their appearance in relation to the initial manifestations of PPS.

Design And Subjects: Twenty patients who were scheduled to undergo elective coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) were enrolled in a prospective, longitudinal pilot study.

Methods: Serum was sampled for AHA on the day prior to surgery and at regular intervalsfollowing surgery in all patients.

Prevalence and clinical features of dementia associated with the antiphospholipid syndrome and circulating anticoagulants.

The increasing prevalence with age of antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL), of dementia and of stroke complicates the study of a causal relationship between antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) and dementia. Prolonged aPTT due to circulating anticoagulants (CAC) may serve as a more specific laboratory marker of APS. In a hospital-based study, we examined all patients with CAC and included 23 who fulfilled standard criteria for primary APS.