The Impact of Vitamin D on Cognitive Dysfunction in Mice with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

BACKGROUND A growing body of evidence suggests that systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) may result in reversible cognitive dysfunction. Vitamin D is considered important for neurons. The therapeutic effect of vitamin D was evaluated in a rat model of SLE.

A retrospective study of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus combined with Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia treated with caspofungin and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) complicated with Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia (PCP) is a clinical complex with unsatisfying treatment efficacy and poor prognosis which is difficult to be diagnosed at early stage. The present study aimed to investigate the clinical features of SLE with PCP, recognize the early onset indicating factors, and evaluate the treatment efficacy of combined caspofungin and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (coSMZ).We reviewed data of 9 patients admitted with SLE-PCP and treated with caspofungin combined with coSMZ at Tangshan Gongren Hospital from January 2013 to December 2017.

[Value of bronchoalveolar lavage as a rescue measurement for systemic lupus erythematosus complicated with diffuse alveolar hemorrhage].

Objective: To explore the value of bronchoalveolar lavage as an emergency treatment for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with concurrent diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH).

Methods: A total of 21 SLE plus DAH patients were divided randomly into 2 groups. The patients in Group A received methylprednisolone 1000 mg/d for 3 days while those in Group B methylprednisolone 1000 mg/d for 3 days in combination with a bronchoalveolar lavage.

[Detection of anti-SSA/Ro antibody by ELISA, double immunodiffusion, and immunoblotting: a comparative study].

Objectives: To compare the specificity and sensitivity of ELISA, double immunodiffusion (ID), and immunoblotting (IB) in detection of anti-SSA/Ro antibodies in the sera of patients with connective tissue disease (CTD).

Methods: ELISA, double ID, and IB were used to detect the serum levels of anti-SSA/Ro antibodies in 7736 patients undergoing screening of CTD, 122 healthy blood donors, and 166 CTD patients positive in antinuclear antibody (ANA) and/or anti-extractable nuclear antigen (ENA).

Results: (1) The sera of the 122 healthy blood donors were all negative in anti-SSA/Ro antibodies by these three methods.

[Characteristics of airway involvement in relapsing polychondritis].

Objective: To investigate the characteristics of airway involvement in relapsing polychondritis (RP).

Methods: The clinical data, including clinical manifestations, respiratory function test, computerized tomography (CT), and bronchoscopy of 38 out of the 56 RP patients who had airway involvement, 20 males and 18 females, with the mean onset age of 45 +/- 11 (27 - 71), and 3 RP patients without airway involvement were retrospectively analyzed. Three patients out of the 16 RP patients who did not have respiratory involvement but underwent respiratory function test, CT, and bronchoscopy were used as controls.

[Clinical analysis of pneumomediastinum complicated in polymyositis and dermatomyositis].

Objective: To analyze the clinical features of pneumomediastinum complicated in polymyositis and dermatomyositis (PM/DM) and to study the pathogenesis thereof.

Methods: The clinical data of 4 patients with pneumomediastinum complicated in dermatomyositis out of 447 PM/DM patients hospitalized in Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) Hospital Jan 1989 to June 2005, were analyzed. The records of patients with PM/DM available in English throughout the world were reviewed to collect those with pneumomediastinum as a complication.