Examining the role of patient-reported external factors and risk of relapse in anti-neutrophilic cytoplasmic autoantibody vasculitis.

The role of stressors, insect bites, and infections on disease relapse of ANCA vasculitis has yet to be entirely explored, with limited retrospective studies focused on disease onset from small participant cohorts. Our study analyzes longitudinal survey data from 2011-2022 to evaluate this perspective from a large ANCA vasculitis cohort. We collected surveys every three to six months to obtain information on self-reported psychological stressors and significant life events, insect bites, and infections throughout clinical disease.

An Approach to Psychiatric Illness in Rheumatology Clinics.

Rheumatologists encounter patients with psychiatric illnesses daily in their practice; however, formal training in rheumatology does not sufficiently equip rheumatologists with guidance for managing common psychiatric illnesses. This study reviews common clinical situations involving psychiatric symptoms, their relationship with rheumatologic conditions, and their effects on clinical presentation and management. We illustrate key principles in a case-based format and reflect on the management of psychiatric components.

Profibrotic Activation of Human Macrophages in Systemic Sclerosis.

Objective: Genome-wide gene expression studies implicate macrophages as mediators of fibrosis in systemic sclerosis (SSc), but little is known about how these cells contribute to fibrotic activation in SSc. We undertook this study to characterize the activation profile of SSc monocyte-derived macrophages and assessed their interaction with SSc fibroblasts.

Methods: Plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were obtained from whole blood from SSc patients (n = 24) and age- and sex-matched healthy controls (n = 12).

Microbiome dysbiosis is associated with disease duration and increased inflammatory gene expression in systemic sclerosis skin.

Background: Infectious agents have long been postulated to be disease triggers for systemic sclerosis (SSc), but a definitive link has not been found. Metagenomic analyses of high-throughput data allows for the unbiased identification of potential microbiome pathogens in skin biopsies of SSc patients and allows insight into the relationship with host gene expression.

Methods: We examined skin biopsies from a diverse cohort of 23 SSc patients (including lesional forearm and non-lesional back samples) by RNA-seq.

Prevalence rates of arthritis among US older adults with varying degrees of depression: Findings from the 2011 to 2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Objective: Arthritis and depressive symptoms often interact and negatively influence one another to worsen mental and physical health outcomes. Better characterization of arthritis rates among older adults with different levels of depressive symptoms is an important step toward informing mental health professionals of the need to detect and respond to arthritis and related mental health complications. The primary objective is to determine arthritis rates among US older adults with varying degrees of depression.

Pain intensity, depressive symptoms, and functional limitations among older adults with serious mental illness.

Objective: To examine pain-related activity interference as a mediator for the relationship between pain intensity and depressive symptoms among older adults with serious mental illness (SMI).

Method: Ordinary least-squares regressions were used to investigate the mediation analysis among older adults with SMI (n = 183) from community mental health centers. Analyses used secondary data from the HOPES intervention study.

Antisense Long Non-Coding RNAs Are Deregulated in Skin Tissue of Patients with Systemic Sclerosis.

Systemic sclerosis is an autoimmune disease characterized by fibrosis of skin and multiple organs of which the pathogenesis is poorly understood. We studied differentially expressed coding and non-coding genes in relation to systemic sclerosis pathogenesis with a specific focus on antisense non-coding RNAs. Skin biopsy-derived RNAs from 14 early systemic sclerosis patients and six healthy individuals were sequenced with ion-torrent and analyzed using DEseq2.

Coexistent pulmonary granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Wegener granulomatosis) and Crohn disease.

Crohn disease (CD) may be associated with various extraintestinal manifestations, including, rarely, respiratory tract involvement. When necrobiotic pulmonary nodules are present, the differential diagnosis includes granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Wegener granulomatosis) (GPA). The respiratory tract manifestations of CD and GPA may mimic each other, complicating the diagnosis and suggesting the possible coexistence of these 2 conditions.

Health-related quality of life in children and adolescents with juvenile localized scleroderma.

Objectives: To examine the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of children with juvenile localized scleroderma (JLS) and to compare them with patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) and healthy controls.

Methods: The cohorts were identified through a diagnostic index and were seen between January 1996 and December 2006. We identified 81 JLS patients to whom we age- and sex-matched 75 AD patients and 75 healthy controls.

Antiphospholipid antibody-associated chorea.

Objective: To describe the clinical features, treatment, and outcomes of patients with antiphospholipid antibody (aPL)-associated chorea.

Methods: The study cohort consisted of consecutive patients with chorea evaluated between 1990 and 2005 with documented aPL at time of their neurologic diagnosis.

Results: Eighteen patients were identified, 4 with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).