Disseminated Cutaneous Mycobacterium chelonae Infection in a Patient With Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

We report a case of disseminated cutaneous Mycobacterium chelonae infection in a patient who was treated with chemotherapy for acute myeloid leukemia. We discuss the clinical manifestations, diagnosis, and treatment of this unusual infection in neutropenic patients.

Fibroblast-like synoviocytes derived from patients with rheumatoid arthritis show the imprint of synovial tissue heterogeneity: evidence of a link between an increased myofibroblast-like phenotype and high-inflammation synovitis.

Objective: Given the heterogeneity of gene expression patterns and cellular distribution between rheumatoid arthritis (RA) synovial tissues, we sought to determine whether this variability was also reflected at the level of the fibroblast-like synoviocyte (FLS) cultured from RA synovial tissues.

Methods: Gene expression profiles in FLS cultured from synovial tissues obtained from 19 RA patients were analyzed using complementary DNA microarrays and hierarchical cluster analysis. To validate the subclassification, we performed prediction analysis and principal components analysis.

Mortality in systemic sclerosis: an international meta-analysis of individual patient data.

Purpose: Studies on mortality associated with systemic sclerosis have been limited by small sample sizes. We aimed to obtain large-scale evidence on survival outcomes and predictors for this disease.

Methods: We performed a meta-analysis of individual patient data from cohorts recruited from seven medical centers in the United States, Europe, and Japan, using standardized definitions for disease subtype and organ system involvement.

Genomics in the immune system.

The analysis of gene expression in tissues, cells, and biologic systems has evolved in the last decade from the analysis of a selected set of genes to an efficient high throughput whole-genome screening approach of potentially all genes expressed in a tissue or cell sample. Development of sophisticated methodologies such as microarray technology allows an open-ended survey to identify comprehensively the fraction of genes that are differentially expressed between samples and define the samples' unique biology. This discovery-based research provides the opportunity to characterize either new genes with unknown function or genes not previously known to be involved in a biologic process.

Activation of the STAT1 pathway in rheumatoid arthritis.

Background: Expression of signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1), the mediator of interferon (IFN) signalling, is raised in synovial tissue (ST) from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Objectives: To determine the extent to which this pathway is activated by phosphorylation in RA synovium. Additionally, to investigate the cellular basis of STAT1 activation in RA ST.