Case Report: A Young Woman Diagnosed With Overlap Syndrome of Systemic Sclerosis and Ankylosing Spondylitis.

This case report describes a rare occurrence of a 25-year-old female diagnosed with both systemic sclerosis (SSc) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS), two distinct autoimmune diseases. The patient presented with a combination of symptoms, including progressive skin tightening, lumbosacral pain, and Raynaud's phenomenon, which complicated the diagnosis. Despite the challenges posed by the coexistence of SSc and AS, a multidisciplinary treatment approach involving corticosteroids, immunosuppressants, and supportive therapies led to significant clinical improvement.

Case Report: A Ticking Time Bomb: Femoral Artery Aneurysm as a Complication of Behcet's Disease in Adolescents.

Behcet's disease is a rare, chronic inflammatory disorder that can affect various organs, with large vessel involvement being particularly uncommon. This case report discusses a 17-year-old male with Behcet's disease who presented with a rapidly enlarging, painful mass in the right groin region, later diagnosed as a femoral artery aneurysm. The patient underwent successful surgical intervention and was subsequently managed with immunosuppressive therapy to prevent relapse.

Macrophage activation syndrome as an initial presentation of systemic lupus erythematosus.

In a recent article on 2019; 7: 3859-3865, Sun et al reported a case of 36-year-old female with macrophage activity syndrome as an onset of systemic lupus erythematosus. Although this is a very interesting case, some concerns still need to be addressed. First, the patient had an extremely elevated serum ferritin but a normal C-reactive protein level, which was unparallel with the inflammatory condition before she received any treatments.

The Immunomodulatory Effect of Alpha-Lipoic Acid in Autoimmune Diseases.

Αlpha-lipoic acid is a naturally occurring antioxidant in human body and has been widely used as an antioxidant clinically. Accumulating evidences suggested that -lipoic acid might have immunomodulatory effects on both adaptive and innate immune systems. This review focuses on the evidences and potential targets involved in the immunomodulatory effects of -lipoic acid.

Clinical deep remission and related factors in a large cohort of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Background: Clinical remission is the treatment target in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This study aimed to investigate clinical remission and related factors in a large cohort of patients with RA.

Methods: This study composed of 342 patients with RA.

Prevalence, risk factors, and prognosis of interstitial lung disease in a large cohort of Chinese primary Sjögren syndrome patients: A case-control study.

To determine the prevalence of pulmonary complications in primary Sjögren syndrome (pSS), and to identify the risk factors and the prognosis associated with pulmonary involvement in pSS patients.A total of 1341 hospitalized patients (853 with pSS and 488 with secondary Sjögren syndrome [sSS]) were retrospectively reviewed. Of these, 165 hospitalized patients with pSS-associated interstitial lung disease (ILD) were analyzed and recruited as a study group.

[Influence of rainwater harvesting and soil anti-seepage on soil water infiltration, distribution and use efficiency in hilly orchard.].

Rainwater harvesting and soil anti-seepage technology is a new technology based on the ridge film mulching and furrow rainwater harvesting. To explore the application effects of rainwater harvesting and soil anti-seepage technology, four different treatments including control (CK), loessal soil with compacted anti-seepage treatment (L), red clay with anti-seepage treatment (R), and red clay with compacted anti-seepage treatment (R) were set up in a "Fuji" hillside orchard in Mizhi Demonstration Station of northern Shaanxi Province. Soil bulk density, stable infiltration rate, soil water content, fruit quality and yield, and water use efficiency were measured.

Interrater reliability and radiation dosage of oblique coronal computed tomography for sacroiliitis in comparison with axial computed tomography.

Objective: Sacroiliitis, a prerequisite to the diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis, can be ascertained by CT when MRI is not available. Oblique coronal CT is an increasingly popular approach when examining sacroiliitis. The goal of this study was to understand how oblique coronal CT compared with axial CT scanning in terms of raters' concordance when diagnosing sacroiliitis.

Increasing Pain Sensation Eliminates the Inhibitory Effect of Depression on Evoked Pain in Rats.

Although previous studies have suggested that depression may be associated with inhibition of evoked pain but facilitation of spontaneous pain, the mechanisms underlying these relationships are unclear. The present study investigated whether the difference between evoked and spontaneous pain on sensory (descending inhibition) and affective (avoidance motivation) components contributes to the divergent effects of depression on them. Depressive-like behavior was produced in male Wistar rats by unpredictable chronic mild stress (UCMS).

Adult-age inflammatory pain experience enhances long-term pain vigilance in rats.

Background: Previous animal studies have illustrated a modulatory effect of neonatal pain experience on subsequent pain-related behaviors. However, the relationship between chronic pain status in adulthood and future pain perception remains unclear.

Methodology/principal Findings: In the current study, we investigated the effects of inflammatory pain experience on subsequent formalin-evoked pain behaviors and fear conditioning induced by noxious stimulation in adult rats.

Octameric structure of the human bifunctional enzyme PAICS in purine biosynthesis.

Phosphoribosylaminoimidazole carboxylase/phosphoribosylaminoimidazole succinocarboxamide synthetase (PAICS) is an important bifunctional enzyme in de novo purine biosynthesis in vertebrate with both 5-aminoimidazole ribonucleotide carboxylase (AIRc) and 4-(N-succinylcarboxamide)-5-aminoimidazole ribonucleotide synthetase (SAICARs) activities. It becomes an attractive target for rational anticancer drug design, since rapidly dividing cancer cells rely heavily on the purine de novo pathway for synthesis of adenine and guanine, whereas normal cells favor the salvage pathway. Here, we report the crystal structure of human PAICS, the first in the entire PAICS family, at 2.

[The role of mannose binding lectin in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus].

Objective: To detect the serum level of mannose binding lectin (MBL) and its genovariation in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients and to investigate the role of MBL in the pathogenesis of SLE.

Methods: ELISA was used to measure the serum MBL level of 40 SLE patients and 30 healthy blood donors. Tm genotyping method was used for the first timer in China.

Purification and refolding of human alpha5-subunit (PSMA5) of the 20S proteasome, expressed as inclusion bodies in Escherichia coli.

The 20S proteasome is the central enzyme of nonlysosomal protein degradation in both the cytosol and nucleus. It is composed of 28 protein subunits which are arranged into four staggered heptameric rings. The outer rings consist of alpha-subunits which are responsible for binding of proteasome activators, inhibitors, and regulators.