Associations of gut microbiota with disease development, disease activity, and therapeutic effects in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Altered gut microbiota is linked to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), but its association with disease development, disease activity, and post-intervention changes remains unclear. We compared new-onset SLE (NOSLE, n = 25), SLE in remission (RemSLE, n = 30), and healthy controls (HC, n = 30) cross-sectionally and conducted the first longitudinal analysis of NOSLE patients (n = 22) from pre-intervention to remission over 12 months. Significant β-diversity differences were observed in both NOSLE and RemSLE compared to HC, but not between NOSLE and RemSLE.

Long-term effects of abatacept on atherosclerosis and arthritis in older vs. younger patients with rheumatoid arthritis: 3-year results of a prospective, multicenter, observational study.

Background: We aimed to reveal the effect of abatacept (ABT) on atherosclerosis in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, 3-year efficacy for arthritis, and safety in a population of older vs. younger patients.

Methods: In this open-label, prospective, observational study, patients were stratified into four groups: younger (20-64 years old) and older (≥ 65 years) patients taking ABT (AY and AO) and conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (csDMARDs) (CY and CO).

A case of systemic lupus erythematosus in a patient with Noonan syndrome with recurrent severe hypoglycaemia.

Noonan syndrome (NS) is a dominantly inherited genetic disorder with mutations in genes encoding components or regulators of the Rat sarcoma virus/mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway. Its diagnosis is based on characteristic features, including typical facial features, a short stature, congenital heart disease, mild developmental delay, and cryptorchidism. Patients with NS sometimes develop autoimmune diseases, such as Hashimoto's thyroiditis and, rarely, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Corrigendum: Senescence of alveolar epithelial cells impacts initiation and chronic phases of murine fibrosing interstitial lung disease.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.

Endolymphatic hydrops presumption tests for patients with vestibular migraine.

Background: The aetiology of vestibular migraine (VM) has not yet been defined; endolymphatic hydrops (EH) has been suggested as a candidate.

Objectives: This study aimed to clarify the relationship between VM and EH using neuro-otological tests, including the EH presumption test.

Materials And Methods: Fourteen patients with VM underwent caloric testing, video head impulse test (vHIT), cervical and ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potential (cVEMP and oVEMP), and EH presumption tests such as the Futaki's test and furosemide loading VEMP.

Abatacept is Efficacious in the Treatment of Older Patients with csDMARD-Refractory Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Prospective, Multicenter, Observational Study.

Introduction: Abatacept efficacy in older patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been primarily demonstrated via retrospective comparisons with younger patients. The objective of this study was to compare efficacy of abatacept in older vs. younger patients with RA, and efficacy of abatacept with that of conventional synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (csDMARDs) in both age groups.

Efficacy of mycophenolate mofetil in Japanese patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objectives: To assess the renal and non-renal efficacy of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) in Japanese patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study to assess the renal and non-renal efficacies of MMF in Japanese patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We analyzed 14 patients with lupus nephritis (LN) who were given MMF, and 13 patients who received monthly intravenous cyclophosphamide (IVCY) as induction therapy, and a further 19 patients without LN who were treated with MMF, and 13 patients who took tacrolimus (TAC) to reduce glucocorticoid dosages.

[Vegetative cardiac metastases of oral cavity cancer: an autopsy case report].

A 60-year-old man was admitted to our hospital for evaluation of intracardiac vegetative masses detected by echocardiography in September 2001. He had undergone surgery for oral cavity cancer in 1999. He presented with severe embolic symptoms including cerebral infarction, but had few symptoms of heart failure.

Effect of maternal age on incidences of apoptotic and proliferative cells in trophoblasts of full-term human placenta.

Advanced maternal age is known to be a risk factor for various kinds of obstetric complications, including placental dysfunction. As a first step towards determining the maternal age-related changes in placental, as well as trophoblastic function, we examined the incidences of apoptotic and proliferative cells in trophoblasts of placentae from women of various ages using the TUNEL method and immunohistochemistry for Ki-67 antigen. Tissue sections were collected from the placentae of healthy mothers with normal delivery of healthy babies so that the placental cell kinetics maintaining normal pregnancy and delivery could be studied.

Dopaminergic activity and endorenal dopamine synthesis in non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus.

In the present study we tried to clarify the differences of the cardiovascular and renal responses to feeding in relation to the peripheral dopamine system. In control subjects (C), ingestion of protein (100 g) induced an increase in Ccr accompanied by an increase in tubular sodium excretion (FENa+). Patients with non-insulin dependent diabetic (NIDDM), a protein-induced increase in Ccr was comparable to that in C, while FEN+ did not change following protein.

[The role of beta 2-adrenoceptor on the pathogenesis of insulin resistance in essential hypertension].

The role of beta 2-adrenoceptor on the pathogenesis of insulin resistance in essential hypertension (EH) was explored. After the measurement of blood pressure in 15 EH patients and 8 control subjects, EH patients were divided into two groups by the elevation of plasma NE (delta NE) 5 min after standing: 7 normoadrenergic EH (delta NE < 140 pg/ml) and 8 hyperadrenergic EH (delta NE > or = 140 pg/ml). On the morning after a 12-h overnight fast, regular insulin (0.

[A case of insulinoma with frequent hypoglycemic attacks not showing evident hyperinsulinemia].

Confirmation of inappropriate hyperinsulinemia is an indispensable requisite for the diagnosis of insulinoma. We report here a case of insulinoma without evident hyperinsulinemia at an early stage. The patient, a 49-year-old woman, had been admitted to our hospital for the evaluation of frequent hypoglycemic attacks.

Prognosis of patients with medically treated aortic dissections.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the long-term results of medical treatment for a dissecting aorta and to detect the risk factors that determine the prognosis of medically treated patients. During the past 10 years, 228 patients with aortic dissections were admitted to our hospital and affiliated hospitals. One hundred thirty-four patients, including 60 with proximal type (Stanford, type A) and 74 with peripheral type (Stanford, type B) dissections, were treated by medical means alone.

[Release of endothelin from isolated perfused human umbilical vein. I: Effect of ionomycin].

Endothelin-like immunoreactivity (ET-LI) was directly measured in the perfusate from the isolated human umbilical vein perfused with Krebs-Ringer solution. The identity of the immunoreactive peptide was confirmed as ET-1 by high-performance liquid chromatography. The rate of release of ET-LI was 86.

Clinical importance of coronary calcification detected by CT.

Coronary calcifications appear in advanced atheromatous lesions therefore fluoroscopy is useful for the detection of the atherosclerotic coronary artery disease (Aldrich et al., 1979). However, the detection of coronary calcification by fluoroscopy is difficult in the case of obesity or thick chest wall and also impaired by the background structures including bone and other intrathoracic calcifications.

Coronary artery calcification detected by CT: clinical significance and angiographic correlates.

Cardiac computed tomography (CT) to detect coronary calcification was performed on 161 patients undergoing coronary angiography for proven or suspected coronary artery disease. Among 108 patients in whom coronary calcifications was identified, 90% had significant coronary stenosis angiographically (greater than 75% stenosis), and 80% of 121 patients with significant coronary stenosis showed calcification by CT. The relationship between the calcification site and the significance in stenosis of each vessel was determined.

[Evaluation of constrictive pericarditis by computed tomography].

Since extensive studies of constrictive pericarditis by CT have not been reported, we performed a plain and contrast enhanced CT on 4 patients of constrictive pericarditis diagnosed by cardiac catheterization or echocardiography and confirmed at the time of surgical operation. The CT findings were as follows: The normal pericardium was smooth, could be visualized in the right and anterior regions of the heart, and was approximately or less 2 mm in thickness. On the other hand, the pericardium in constrictive pericarditis was irregularly thickened, was visualized even in the left and posterior regions of the heart, and was more than 2 mm in thickness.

[Diagnosis of myocardial infarction by CT: the study of an initial filling defect and late enhancement of the infarcted myocardium after injection of contrast material].

Several animal experimental studies have shown that the enhanced CT gives the direct evidence of acute myocardial infarction characterized by an initial filling defect and late enhancement in the site of the damaged myocardium. Therefore, we studied experimentally and clinically the diagnostic value of these CT findings in detecting and quantitating recent and remote myocardial infarctions. Sixteen mongrel dogs with anterior myocardial infarction were subjected to the present study.