Patient demographics and disease variables correlate with distinct cytokine patterns in mitogen-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells from rheumatoid arthritis patients.

There is paucity of literature on the association of peripheral blood cytokine patterns with patient demographics and disease variables in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We test the hypothesis that there may be differences in peripheral blood levels of inflammatory cytokines in RA subjects according to various disease variables. In this case, we could identify peripheral blood cytokine markers that correlate with different disease variables.

Therapeutic efficacy and safety profile of infliximab in active systemic lupus erythematosus.

Since levels of the proinflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) are significantly increased in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and may be involved in the disease pathogenesis, we report on the safety and efficacy of infliximab, a chimeric monoclonal antibody directed against TNFalpha, given to a patient with difficult-to-treat active nonrenal SLE. This patient, who failed to remit with full doses of glucocorticoids, hydroxychloroquine, methotrexate, and azathioprine, went into sustained remission with the addition of infliximab infusions. Glucocorticoids could be tapered off completely.

Ten years of clinical experience with adult onset Still's disease: is the outcome improving?

This study aims to report on the clinical and laboratory picture and the disease course and outcome in patients having adult onset Still's disease (AOSD), to briefly review existing literature on the subject, and to compare our findings with those previously reported. Results are reported for 28 patients with AOSD satisfying the preliminary criteria of Yamaguchi et al. seen in a teaching hospital over the last 10 years.

Shrinking lung syndrome as a presenting manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus in a female Kuwaiti.

The shrinking lung syndrome (SLS) is a rare manifestation in patients with established systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Only two cases have been reported in which this syndrome was the presenting manifestation of SLE. We describe a 21-year-old female Kuwaiti who presented with SLS.

Correlation of clinical and laboratory surrogate markers of immunodepletion with T cell subsets (CD4 & CD8) determined flow cytometrically in HIV infected patients: a hospital based study.

CD4 count is established in HIV medicine as a marker of immune depletion. However, due to financial constraints this facility is not readily available in India. Therefore, this cross sectional study in the setting of a government hospital in Pune evaluated 72 HIV infected patients for the surrogate markers of CD4 count by correlating CD counts with clinical and easily available laboratory parameters.