Efficacy of Herbal Medicine in Hand Osteoarthritis: A Narrative Review.

Objective: Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most prevalent joint disorders in the world that has placed an enormous economic and social burden on governments and healthcare sectors in many countries. Hand OA (HOA) is the most common peripheral arthritis, which is less investigated than knee and hip OA. Due to limited approved drug choices and adverse effects of long-term use of current regimens, we aimed to review the existing evidence that were used as oral herbal medicine to treat HOA.

Endothelin-1, α-Klotho, 25(OH) Vit D levels and severity of disease in scleroderma patients.

Considering the role of endothelin-1 (ET-1) in tissue remodeling and fibrosis during the development of scleroderma as well as the effect of α-Klotho in pathogenesis of calcinosis and/or endothelial cell injury and its correlation with severity of disease, this study aimed to evaluate serum ET-1, α-Klotho and 25(OH) vitamin D levels in patients with limited and diffuse scleroderma compared to healthy subjects. In this cross-sectional study, 60 scleroderma patients according to the ACR/EULAR 2013 criteria and 60 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were included. In patients, clinical examination was performed and Medsger severity scale was assessed.