Effect of IL-17 on pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells and connective tissue disease-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Objective: To explore the role of interleukin (IL)-17 in connective tissue disease-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (CTD-PAH) and to investigate its possible mechanism on pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs).

Methods: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were used to compare levels of serum IL-17 in patients with CTD-PAH and healthy controls (HCs). After treatment for 3 months, the serum IL-17 levels were tested in CTD-PAH.

Associations between sarcoidosis, autoimmune diseases, and autoantibodies: a single-center retrospective study in China.

To describe the clinical manifestations, immunological features, and risk factors in patients with sarcoidosis complicated with autoimmune diseases (ADs) as well as determine the frequency of autoantibodies and possible correlation between autoantibodies and laboratory data. Patients with pathologically confirmed sarcoidosis at Beijing Chaoyang Hospital (China) between January 2017 and October 2020 were included. Age- and sex-matched patients who visited the rheumatology outpatient clinic without systemic or ADs were included as controls.

Thymic epithelial tumor complicated by immunological abnormalities: results from a single-center retrospective study in China.

Background: To describe the clinical manifestations, immunological features, treatments, and outcomes of patients with thymic epithelial tumor (TET) complicated by immunological abnormalities, and to improve knowledge on immunological abnormalities in this rare disease.

Methods: Patients with pathologically confirmed TET at Beijing Chaoyang Hospital between January 2013 and May 2018 were included in this study, and clinical data were analyzed retrospectively. Immunological abnormalities were classified into two groups as follows: Good syndrome (GS) and autoimmune disease (AD).

A rare case of meningoencephalitis by Listeria monocytogenes in systemic lupus erythematosus: case report and review.

Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have a high risk of infection. Central nervous system infection and neuropsychiatric SLE are both major causes of death. It is vital to distinguish between these two conditions to improve prognosis due to the treatment paradigms required for each condition.

The Distribution and the Fibrotic Role of Elevated Inflammatory Th17 Cells in Patients With Primary Biliary Cirrhosis.

T helper (Th) 17 cells were reported to have the property of proinflammation and profibrosis. We first investigate the levels of Th17 cells in primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) patients, and then explore their distribution and fibrotic role in the disease.We compared the circulating Th17 and hepatic interleukin (IL)-17-positive cells between patients and healthy controls (HCs) at different disease stages by flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry, respectively.

Effects of tumor necrosis factor-alpha on sexual activity of male patients with ankylosing spondylitis.

The objective of this study was to investigate the therapeutic effect of a tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) antagonist on the sexual quality of life of male patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). In this open-label study, 42 AS patients were grouped into the TNF-α antagonist treatment group and the non-TNF-α antagonist treatment group for 3 months. Clinical and laboratory indices and changes in the sexual quality of life were compared to assess the efficacy of TNF-α antagonists on sexual activity.

Risk factors for hepatic decompensation in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis.

Aim: To examine the clinical features and analyze prognostic factors in a prospective study of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) patients.

Methods: From 1995 to 2010, PBC patients without hepatic decompensation seen at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital were enrolled. Clinical signs and manifestations (pruritus, persistent fatigue, jaundice and pain in the right hypochondrium), laboratory parameters (auto-antibodies for autoimmune hepatic disease, biliary and hepatic enzymes, immunoglobulin, bilirubin, and albumin) and imaging findings were recorded at entry and at specific time points during follow-up.

Early biochemical response to ursodeoxycholic acid and long-term prognosis of primary biliary cirrhosis: results of a 14-year cohort study.

Unlabelled: The biochemical response to ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) in primary biliary cirrhosis is a strong predictor of long-term outcome and thus facilitates the rapid identification of patients needing new therapeutic approaches. Numerous criteria for predicting outcome of treatment have been studied based on biochemical response to UDCA at 1 year. We sought to determine whether an earlier biochemical response at 3 or 6 months could as efficiently identify patients at risk of poor outcome, as defined by liver-related death, liver transplantation, and complications of cirrhosis.

Role of autoimmunity in primary biliary cirrhosis.

Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is an autoimmune liver disease characterized by the presence of serum autoantibodies and chronic nonsuppurative destructive cholangitis. The pathogenesis of PBC involves environmental factors, genetic predisposition and loss of immune tolerance. In recent years, it has become univocally accepted that an inappropriately activated immune response is one of the most important factors in PBC.