Brief Report: Influence of HLA-DRB1 Susceptibility Alleles on the Clinical Subphenotypes of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in Koreans.

Objective: To investigate the association between HLA-DRB1 alleles and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) susceptibility and features of SLE, such as clinical manifestations and autoantibody profiles, in a Korean population.

Methods: We tested the genetic associations between HLA-DRB1 alleles and SLE susceptibility and clinical subphenotypes in 1,089 patients with SLE and 2,161 control subjects, including a discovery set (475 patients and 1,119 controls) and a replication set (614 patients and 1,042 controls). We used a relative predispositional effects (RPEs) method to examine the independent effect of each allele associated with SLE or its subphenotypes.

Impact of low-dose aspirin on coronary artery spasm as assessed by intracoronary acetylcholine provocation test in Korean patients.

High-dose aspirin has been reported to aggravate coronary artery spasm (CAS). However, it is unknown whether low-dose aspirin (LDA; 100 mg) has deleterious impact on CAS. We assessed the impact of LDA on CAS induced by intracoronary acetylcholine (ACh) provocation test.

Etanercept treatment in rheumatoid arthritis patients with chronic kidney failure on predialysis.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with chronic kidney failure are intolerant to most disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and NSAIDs due to their potential toxicities. Although the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors have emerged as a highly effective treatment for RA, their safety and efficacy in RA patients with chronic kidney failure have not been well reported. We retrospectively evaluated the safety and efficacy of etanercept treatment in RA patients with chronic kidney failure.