Does stress response axis activation differ between patients with autoimmune disease and healthy people?

Many studies have shown that patients with autoimmune disease present a hypoactive hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, but the results are controversial. Our objective was to study differences in stress response axis activity between patients with autoimmune disease and healthy people. The study sample consisted of 97 women divided into four groups: 37 healthy women (HW), 21 with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 21 with Sjögren's syndrome (SS), and 18 with systemic sclerosis (SSc).

Efficacy of cognitive-behavioural therapy for lifestyle modification in metabolic syndrome: a randomised controlled trial with a 18-months follow-up.

Objective: To test the efficacy of cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) for lifestyle modification in patients with metabolic syndrome (MetS).

Design: 76 MetS patients completed this clinical trial, with 18 months follow-up. 45 participants from the experimental group (EG - CBT) and 31 to the control group (CG - usual care).

Thrombotic microangiopathy in a patient with eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis: case-based review.

The correct diagnosis, classification and therapeutic management of thrombotic microangiopathies (TMA) continue to be a challenge for the clinician. We report a rare case of eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) as a trigger for complement-mediated TMA in a 57-year-old man who was successfully treated with corticoids, cyclophosphamide and therapeutic plasma exchange. Additionally, we review few other cases reported in the literature and the pathophysiological pathway of association between TMA and EGPA.

[Validity and reliability of the self-efficacy to regulate exercise scale in patients with metabolic syndrome].

Objective: Self-efficacy refers to beliefs in individuals' own capacities to do something. With the intent of evaluate the validity and reliability, we investigated the psychometric properties of the Self-Efficacy to Regulate Exercise Scale (SERES) in patients with metabolic syndrome (MetS).

Methods: 135 participants with medical diagnosis of MetS took part in the study (Mage=55.

Association between perceived level of stress, clinical characteristics and psychopathological symptoms in women with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objectives: To evaluate psychopathological status and stress level from a sample with SLE; compare mental functioning and stress levels between women with SLE and healthy women; determine whether disease duration, disease activity, cumulative organ damage and stress have an influence on psychopathological symptoms in SLE patients; and evaluate whether perception of stress is related to SLE severity.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 425 participants; 202 women with SLE, with an average age (SD) of 36.61 (10.

Analyses of hair and salivary cortisol for evaluating hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activation in patients with autoimmune disease.

Although many studies have shown that patients with autoimmune disease present a hypoactive hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA), controversial results have been described. Our objective was to study HPA axis activity in women with autoimmune disease compared to healthy women. Therefore, we analyzed salivary cortisol over the course of a day, and hair cortisol concentrations from the three preceding months, from 65 women divided into two groups: healthy women (n = 30), with a mean age of 44.

Adherence to treatment in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Background And Objective: Non-adherence to treatment is usually a clinical problem in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Increasing the knowledge of predictors of treatment adherence can be meaningful in the clinical setting. The main objective of the present study was to analyse the influence of sociodemographic, clinical and psychological variables on the degree of treatment adherence in a sample of Spanish women with SLE.

Effect of ethnicity on clinical presentation and risk of antiphospholipid syndrome in Roma and Caucasian patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: a multicenter cross-sectional study.

Aim: To determine if there are ethnic differences in the prevalence of antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), clinical presentation and autoantibody profile between Roma and Caucasian patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted including data from Roma and Caucasian SLE patients consecutively attending six hospitals in Spain. Socio-demographic characteristics, prevalence of APS, clinical and analytical features of SLE and APS were compared between ethnic groups.

Relationship between QT Interval Length and Arterial Stiffness in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE): A Cross-Sectional Case-Control Study.

Introduction And Objectives: The QT interval on the electrocardiogram has been shown to be longer in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) compared to that of the general population. The clinical significance of this finding is unknown. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between QT interval and subclinical atherosclerosis, measured by carotid-femoral pulse-wave velocity.

Cumulated organ damage is associated with arterial stiffness in women with systemic lupus erythematosus irrespective of renal function.

Objectives: To determine whether there is an association between cumulated organ damage and arterial stiffness in women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with normal renal function and without renal damage.

Methods: Eighty-eight SLE women with normal renal function and without renal damage, and 102 sex- and age-matched controls with no history of coronary heart disease or peripheral arterial disease were studied. Cumulated organ damage and arterial stiffness were measured using the SLICC/ACR Damage Index (SDI) and pulse wave velocity (PWV), respectively.

Nighttime Blood Pressure Patterns and Subclinical Atherosclerosis in Women with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

Objective: To compare 24-h ambulatory blood pressure (BP) monitoring (ABPM) values and patterns in women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with those of a matched control group and their relationship with the presence of subclinical atherosclerosis.

Methods: ABPM was assessed in 70 women with SLE and in 65 sex- and age-matched controls without a history of clinic cardiovascular disease (CVD). Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV), which is a marker of subclinical atherosclerosis and a predictor of future CVD, was measured.

Prevalence of and factors associated with increased arterial stiffness in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome.

Objective: To compare the presence of subclinical atherosclerosis measured by means of pulse wave velocity (PWV) in women with primary Sjögren's syndrome (SS) versus a healthy age- and sex-matched control group, and to identify factors independently associated with PWV in primary SS.

Methods: Forty-four women with primary SS and 78 age-matched healthy women without overt cardiovascular (CV) diseases were assessed for traditional and nontraditional CV risk factors. PWV was also performed.

Influence of psychological stress on headache in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objective: To compare the prevalence and disability of headache in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with the general population and to assess the role of chronic psychological stress (CPS) in headache development.

Methods: One hundred seventy patients with SLE and 102 control subjects matched for age, sex, and level of education were included in this multicenter, cross-sectional study. CPS, headache-related disability, and chronic analgesic intake (CAI) were evaluated in all participants.

Erythema nodosum as azathioprine hypersensitivity reaction in a patient with bullous pemphigoid.

A 65-year-old woman with bullous pemphigoid presented with fever and several red-purple nodular subcutaneous lesions on both lower legs 1 week after starting treatment with azathioprine (AZA). Biopsy of a skin nodule was compatible with erythema nodosum (EN) and hypersensitivity reaction to AZA was suspected. AZA was subsequently discontinued, observing complete remission of fever and EN within 2 weeks.