Concordance between myositis autoantibodies and anti-nuclear antibody patterns in a real-world, Australian cohort.

Objectives: Myositis autoantibodies (MAs) were traditionally used as a diagnostic biomarker for idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IIM). Its clinical utility had recently expanded to include interstitial lung disease (ILD) diagnosis. Depending on the patient cohort, MAs false positives can be common.

Search for Lepton Number and Flavor Violation in K^{+} and π^{0} Decays.

Searches for the lepton number violating K^{+}→π^{-}μ^{+}e^{+} decay and the lepton flavor violating K^{+}→π^{+}μ^{-}e^{+} and π^{0}→μ^{-}e^{+} decays are reported using data collected by the NA62 experiment at CERN in 2017-2018. No evidence for these decays is found and upper limits of the branching ratios are obtained at 90% confidence level: B(K^{+}→π^{-}μ^{+}e^{+})<4.2×10^{-11}, B(K^{+}→π^{+}μ^{-}e^{+})<6.

Clinical relevance of nitrated beta 2-glycoprotein I in antiphospholipid syndrome: Implications for thrombosis risk.

Β-Glycoprotein I (βGPI) is an important anti-thrombotic protein and is the major auto-antigen in the antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). The clinical relevance of nitrosative stress in post translational modification of βGPI was examined.The effects of nitrated (n)βGPI on its anti-thrombotic properties and its plasma levels in primary and secondary APS were determined with appropriate clinical control groups.

Epstein-Barr virus-related lymphoma in rheumatoid arthritis: implications for long-term usage of immunosuppressive drugs and review of the literature.

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a common autoimmune disease where methotrexate (MTX) is widely used as the first-line therapy. The combination of RA and MTX is associated with lymphoproliferative disorders (LPD). RA patients with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) have impaired T-lymphocyte function, thus allowing an overgrowth of EBV-positive lymphoblastoid cells.

Mycophenolate mofetil is an effective and safe option for the management of systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease: results from the Australian Scleroderma Cohort Study.

Objectives: To report the efficacy and tolerability of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) and azathioprine (AZA) in the management of systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD).

Methods: Patients in the Australian Scleroderma Cohort Study treated with at least 3 months of MMF or AZA for SSc-ILD confirmed on high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) chest were identified and their pulmonary function tests (PFTs) retrieved. Individuals with available results for T-1 (12 months prior to treatment commencement), T0 (date of treatment commencement) and at least one subsequent time point were included in the drug efficacy analysis.

Pelvic floor dysfunction in female Sjögren's syndrome: an 8-year audit.

Introduction And Hypothesis: The classic triad of dry eyes, mouth and vagina is known to most gynaecologists as pathognomonic of Sjögren's syndrome, but rheumatologists seldom consider vaginal symptoms. Our hypothesis was that women with Sjögren's syndrome would have an increased likelihood of postoperative voiding dysfunction, severe vaginal stenosis or poor response to anticholinergics compared with the general urogynaecology patient.

Methods: All patients with Sjögren's syndrome were prospectively recorded from July 2007 to June 2015.

The association of antiphospholipid antibodies with cardiopulmonary manifestations of systemic sclerosis.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence and correlates of antiphospholipid antibodies (APLA) in systemic sclerosis (SSc).

Methods: Nine hundred and forty SSc patients were tested for APLA using an ELISA assay at recruitment. Clinical manifestations were defined as present, if ever present from SSc diagnosis.

How many life years are lost in patients with rheumatoid arthritis? Secular cause-specific and all-cause mortality in rheumatoid arthritis, and their predictors in a long-term Australian cohort study.

Background: There is an excess of mortality in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) but no long-term Australian cohort data.

Aims: To determine median life years lost, all-cause standardised mortality ratio (SMR) and cause-specific SMR, their predictors and secular change in Australian patients with RA.

Methods: Study population was all patients seen by a rheumatologist between 1990 and 1994.

Prevalence, correlates and clinical usefulness of antibodies to RNA polymerase III in systemic sclerosis: a cross-sectional analysis of data from an Australian cohort.

Introduction: The prevalence of antibodies to RNA polymerase III (anti-RNAP) differs among systemic sclerosis (SSc) cohorts worldwide. Previously reported associations of anti-RNAP include diffuse cutaneous disease, tendon friction rubs and renal crisis, with recent reports suggesting a close temporal association between malignancy and SSc disease onset among patients with anti-RNAP.

Methods: Patients with SSc were tested for the presence of anti-RNAP at recruitment into the Australian Scleroderma Cohort Study.

Novel assays of thrombogenic pathogenicity in the antiphospholipid syndrome based on the detection of molecular oxidative modification of the major autoantigen β2-glycoprotein I.

Objective: Beta-2-glycoprotein I (β2 GPI) constitutes the major autoantigen in the antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), a common acquired cause of arterial and venous thrombosis. We recently described the novel observation that β2 GPI may exist in healthy individuals in a free thiol (biochemically reduced) form. The present study was undertaken to quantify the levels of total, reduced, and posttranslationally modified oxidized β2 GPI in APS patients compared to various control groups.

Anti-citrullinated peptide antibody: death of the rheumatoid factor?

Early diagnosis and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is necessary to prevent joint damage and long-term disability. High rates of false-negative and false-positive results of the rheumatoid factor (RF) test make it generally unhelpful in the early diagnosis of RA. A new clinical test for RA--the anti-citrullinated peptide antibody (ACPA) test--is now widely available in Australia.

Evidence for chronically elevated serum protein oxidation in systemic lupus erythematosus patients.

Serum protein oxidation levels in people with the autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have previously been shown to (a) be elevated at a single time point and (b) correlate with disease activity. This study investigates whether this elevation is a chronic phenomenon, by analysis of multiple serum samples collected from 21 SLE patients and nine controls over a period of up to 38 months. Protein thiols were chronically decreased in SLE patients with stable or variable disease activity compared to controls, whilst protein-bound carbonyls and glycine were chronically increased.

Serum protein oxidation and apolipoprotein CIII levels in people with systemic lupus erythematosus with and without nephritis.

Increased oxidative stress is a hallmark of the autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This study compares serum protein oxidation levels in SLE patients without and with renal involvement (lupus nephritis); the latter have a significantly poorer prognosis. Similar increases in protein carbonyls and decreases in protein thiols were observed in both SLE groups compared to controls.

Fabry disease in a heterozygote presenting as hand ischaemia and painful acroparaesthesia.

A 48-year-old woman presented with acute unilateral ischaemia of the left hand. She had a background of chronic peripheral neuropathic pain, palpitations, anaemia and an episode of superficial thrombophlebitis. Physical examination revealed non-blanching purple discoloration of her left fingers and her left thumb, index finger and thenar eminance appeared ischaemic.

Increased levels of serum protein oxidation and correlation with disease activity in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objective: To examine protein oxidation in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and to correlate levels of protein oxidation products with disease activity.

Methods: Serum was collected from SLE patients and healthy control subjects. Protein-bound carbonyls and the pro-oxidant enzyme myeloperoxidase (MPO) were quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance analysis and characterization of the derivatized Haemophilus influenzae type b polysaccharide intermediate for PedvaxHIB.

PedvaxHIB is a pediatric vaccine that protects children from severe disease caused by the gram-negative bacterium Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib). The vaccine is made by chemically conjugating Hib capsular polysaccharide to the outer membrane protein complex of Neisseria meningitidis. The protein-conjugated vaccine has proven to be extremely effective in preventing invasive Hib disease in infants and young children.

Characterization and quantification of C-polysaccharide in Streptococcus pneumoniae capsular polysaccharide preparations.

Purified capsular polysaccharide preparations from Streptococcus pneumoniae that are used for vaccine production typically contain residual levels of C-polysaccharide (C-Ps). Residual C-Ps is typically found in one of two forms, either chemically linked to the capsular polysaccharide (bound) or present by itself (free). Two analytical methods have been developed and applied to determine the relative percentages of the two C-Ps forms present in various capsular polysaccharide preparations.

A multi-centre evaluation of the intra-assay and inter-assay variation of commercial and in-house anti-cardiolipin antibody assays.

Aims: To assess the intra-assay (intra-run) and inter-assay (inter-run) variation of commercial and in-house IgG and IgM anti-cardiolipin antibody (aCL) assays/kits, and to determine an appropriate maximum value for inclusion in consensus guidelines.

Methods: Frozen aliquots of two patient specimens and one commercial control were sent to nine laboratories for the evaluation of eight commercial kits and one in-house assay. Intra-assay and inter-assay evaluations were performed with all three samples for IgG aCL, and one patient specimen for IgM aCL.