Diagnostic properties of metabolic perturbations in rheumatoid arthritis.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of diagnosing early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by measuring selected metabolic biomarkers.

Methods: We compared the metabolic profile of patients with RA with that of healthy controls and patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsoA). The metabolites were measured using two different chromatography-mass spectrometry platforms, thereby giving a broad overview of serum metabolites.

Polyaza crown ether as non-nucleosidic building blocks in DNA-conjugates.

The synthesis of amphiphilic polyaza crown ether monomers X (palmityl-substituted), Y (cholesteryl-substituted) and Z (dipalmityl-subtituted) and their incorporation into oligonucleotides are described. Their effects on thermal duplex stability were investigated by UV melting curve analysis. Thermal denaturation experiments showed remarkable stabilization of dsDNA by polyaza crown ether monomers when incorporated in opposite positions.