Sex and gender norms in marriage: Comparing expert advice in socialist Czechoslovakia and Hungary between the 1950s and 1980s.

First, we argue that sexuality was central to socialist modernization: Sex and gender were reformulated whenever the socialist project was being revised. Expertise was crucial in these reformulations, which harnessed people's support for the changing regimes. Moreover, the role of the expert in society grew over time, leading to ever expanding and diversified fields of expertise.

Similarities and differences between pediatric and adult patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multifactorial autoimmune disease with highest prevalence among women of childbearing age. However, children younger than 16 years also can develop SLE (childhood-onset lupus/juvenile-type SLE). The aim of our study was to compare the clinical course of adult and pediatric-onset SLE.

Impaired endothelial function in patients with undifferentiated connective tissue disease: a follow-up study.

Objective: In this study the alteration of endothelial function, arterial stiffness and autoantibodies was investigated in patients with UCTD.

Methods: Thirty-one patients with UCTD were included in this prospective study. All the patients remained in the UCTD stage during the average 3.

Increased levels of anti-heat-shock protein 60 (anti-Hsp60) indicate endothelial dysfunction, atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases in patients with mixed connective tissue disease.

Heat-shock protein 60 (Hsp60) has been shown to provoke inflammation, and anti-Hsp60 may facilitate the development of atherosclerosis. In this study, we have investigated 30 patients with mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) and assessed anti-Hsp60 and their relationship to cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Out of 30 patients with MCTD, 15 had CVDs.

Decreased apopto-phagocytic gene expression in the macrophages of systemic lupus erythematosus patients.

The clearance of apoptotic cells has an important role in the maintenance of tissue homeostasis and in the protection of tissues from the inflammatory and immunogenic contents of dying cells. A defect in the recognition and phagocytosis of apoptotic cells contributes to the development of chronic inflammation and autoimmune disorders. We have observed that compared with healthy donors, differentiated macrophages from patients with untreated systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) showed decreased phagocytosis of apoptotic neutrophils.

Autologous dendritic cell based adoptive immunotherapy of patients with colorectal cancer-A phase I-II study.

Dendritic cell-based active immunotherapies of cancer patients are aimed to provoke the proliferation and differentiation of tumor-specific CD4(+) and CD8(+) T-lymphocytes towards protective effector cells. Isolation and in vitro differentiation of circulating blood monocytes has been established a reasonable platform for adoptively transferred DC-based immunotherapies. In the present study the safety and tolerability of vaccination by autologous tumor cell lysates (oncolysate)- or carcinoembriogenic antigen (CEA)-loaded DCs in patients with colorectal cancer was investigated in a phase I-II trial.

Altered Th17 cells and Th17/regulatory T-cell ratios indicate the subsequent conversion from undifferentiated connective tissue disease to definitive systemic autoimmune disorders.

A shift in the balance between Th17-cells and regulatory T-cells (Treg) is an important feature of systemic autoimmune diseases (SAID), and may also contribute to their development. Hereby, we assessed the distribution of peripheral Th17 and Treg-cells in patients with undifferentiated connective tissue disease (UCTD), the forerunner of SAIDs and followed these parameters during the development towards definitive SAIDs. Fifty-one UCTD patients were investigated and followed-up for 3 years.

Clinical course, prognosis, and causes of death in mixed connective tissue disease.

Objective: To study the survival rate and prognostic indicators of mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) in a Hungarian population.

Methods: Two hundred eighty patients with MCTD diagnosed between 1979 and 2011 were followed prospectively. Clinical features, autoantibodies, and mortality data were assessed.

Derailed B cell homeostasis in patients with mixed connective tissue disease.

Mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) is a systemic autoimmune disorder, characterized by the presence of antibodies to U1-RNP protein. We aimed to determine phenotypic abnormalities of peripheral B cell subsets in MCTD. Blood samples were obtained from 46 MCTD patients, and 20 controls.

Fatal CMV-Infection after Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation in Refractory Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

High-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous stem cell transplantation can be a rescue for patients with severe refractory systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, the procedure might have fatal complications including infections and bleeding. We report on a young female patient with SLE whose disease started in her early childhood.

Distinct phenotypes in mixed connective tissue disease: subgroups and survival.

The aim of the present study was to assess the autoantibody profile, dominant clinical symptoms and cluster characteristics of different mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD phenotypes. Two-hundred-and-one patients with MCTD were followed-up longitudinally. Five clinical parameters, Raynaud's phenomenon, pulmonary artery hypertension (PAH), myositis, interstitial lung disease (ILD), erosive arthritis and five auto-antibodies besides anti-U1RNP, antiendothelial cell antibodies (AECA), anti-CCP, anti-cardiolipin (anti-CL), anti-SSA/SSB and IgM rheumatoid factor (RF) were selected for cluster analysis.

Serum and urinary cytokine levels of SLE patients.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic, relapsing, polysystemic autoimmune disease with various clinical signs. The prognosis of SLE patients is influenced by neuropsychiatric and renal involvement. Lupus nephritis (LN) is present in 40-60% of patients.

[Successful completed pregnancies in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus].

Unlabelled: Systemic lupus erythematosus is a chronic autoimmune disorder which affects women with child bearing potential.

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the successful pregnancies in patients with lupus in the past 10 years. Women were followed up at the 3rd Department of Internal Medicine, University of Debrecen.

Immunological reconstitution after autologous stem cell transplantation in patients with refractory systemic autoimmune diseases.

Objective: High-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT) can be a salvage therapy for patients with severe, refractory systemic autoimmune diseases. The function of the newly rebuilt immune system is important, but little is known about immune reconstitution after AHSCT in autoimmune disorders. Our aim was to investigate the repopulation of different lymphocyte subsets in patients with systemic autoimmune diseases after AHSCT.

Effects of adalimumab treatment on vascular disease associated with early rheumatoid arthritis.

Background: Increased cardiovascular morbidity has become a leading cause of mortality in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFa) inhibitors may influence flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD) of the brachial artery, common carotid intima-media thickness (ccIMT) and arterial stiffness indicated by pulse-wave velocity (PWV) in RA.

Objectives: To assess the effects of adalimumab treatment on FMD, ccIMT and PWV in early RA.

Comparative assessment of vascular function in autoimmune rheumatic diseases: considerations of prevention and treatment.

Numerous autoimmune-inflammatory rheumatic diseases have been associated with accelerated atherosclerosis or other types of vasculopathy leading to increased cardio- and cerebrovascular disease risk. Traditional risk factors, as well as the role of systemic inflammation including cytokines, chemokines, proteases, autoantibodies, adhesion receptors and others have been implicated in the development of these vascular pathologies. The characteristics of vasculopathies may significantly differ depending on the underlying disease.

Assessment of subclinical vascular disease associated with ankylosing spondylitis.

Objective: Studies indicate that ankylosing spondylitis (AS), as well as rheumatoid arthritis, may be associated with accelerated atherosclerosis and vascular disease. We assessed endothelial dysfunction, carotid atherosclerosis, and aortic stiffness in AS in context with clinical and laboratory measurements.

Methods: Forty-three patients with AS and 40 matched healthy controls were studied.

Vitamin D insufficiency in a large MCTD population.

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the vitamin D status in patients with mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) and to determine which clinical symptoms, laboratory parameters and endothelial cell markers are associated with low vitamin D levels.

Methods: 125 female MCTD patients and 48 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were enrolled in the study. The clinical symptoms, autoantibodies (anti-U1-RNP, anti-cardiolipin - anti-CL and anti-endothelial cell antibody - AECA), serum cytokines (IFN-γ, IL-6, IL-12, IL-23, IL-17 and IL-10), soluble endothelial cell markers (endothelin, thrombomodulin - TM, and von Willebrand factor antigen - vWFAg) and serum lipids (total cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL-C, HDL-C, apolipoprotein A1, and apolipoprotein B) were investigated for an association with vitamin D levels by univariate and multivariate statistical analyses.

The immunopathological role of vitamin D in patients with SLE: data from a single centre registry in Hungary.

Objectives: Disproportionate vitamin D levels may play an important role in the development of certain systemic autoimmune and rheumatic diseases. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and to compare serological and clinical parameters in patients with different vitamin D levels from a single centre registry in Central-Eastern Europe.

Methods: A total of 177 patients with SLE were enrolled in the study.

Alfacalcidol treatment restores derailed immune-regulation in patients with undifferentiated connective tissue disease.

Vitamin D deficiency may contribute to pathological changes in the number and function of CD4+ T helper cell subsets (CD4+Th1, CD4+Th17, CD4+CD25(bright)Foxp3-natural regulatory T cells-nTreg) in patients with undifferentiated connective tissue disease (UCTD). The aim of the present study was to evaluate, whether alfacalcidol could restore immune-regulatory changes in patients with UCTD. We assessed the optimal dose of alfacalcidol that could normalize the elevated levels of IFN-γ expressed by the CD4+Th1 cells and the IL-17 expressed by Th17 cells.

Clinical and immunoserological characteristics of the transition from primary to overlap antiphospholipid syndrome.

Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is a distinct clinical entity characterized by arterial and venous thromboembolic events, recurrent fetal loss and the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies in the patients' sera. In primary APS, there is no detectable underlying disease, while overlap APS is associated with clinical syndromes including systemic autoimmune diseases, infections, or malignancies. We carried out a retrospective analysis of serological and clinical manifestations as well as assessed outcome-measures in 165 patients with primary APS.

Impaired regulatory T-cell homeostasis due to vitamin D deficiency in undifferentiated connective tissue disease.

Objective: The aim of this study was to perform a quantitative and functional analysis of natural CD4+CD25(high)Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (nTregs) and CD4+IL-17+ T cells, and to assess the serum levels of proinflammatory cytokines in patients with undifferentiated connective tissue disease (UCTD) before and after 5 weeks of 0.5 μg/day alfacalcidol supplementation.

Methods: Twenty-five patients with UCTD were enrolled in an open-label trial of alfacalcidol.

Measurement of interleukin-1 receptor antagonist in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus could predict renal manifestation of the disease.

Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) is a good indicator of disease activity in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Glucocorticosteroids are the most frequently used drugs in SLE. Our goal was to compare IL-1Ra activity in SLE patients with and without renal involvement and to determine the effect of different dosage of glucocorticosteroids used in 17 patients with active SLE without nephritis, 7 patients with inactive lupus nephritis (LN), and 8 patients with active LN, along with 10 healthy controls.