Mineral and bone disorder biomarkers and inflammation indexes in patients with end stage renal disease.

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an independent risk factor for bone and mineral metabolism disorder. Bone and mineral metabolism disorder develop gradually with the progression of renal failure. Various abnormalities include elevated fibroblast growth factor-23, decreased levels of 1,25-Dihydroxy Vitamin D (1,25-(OH)2D), and secondary hyperparathyroidism.

Serological Evidence for the Association Between Epstein-Barr Virus Infection and Sjögren's Syndrome.

Background: Exposure to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection has been hypothesized to be an important risk factor for multiple rheumatic diseases, but the serological evidence so far for its role in Sjögren's syndrome (SjS) is not clearly established yet. This study aimed to assess the seroepidemiological associations of antibodies to EBV with SjS.

Methods: A seroepidemiological study containing 119 patients with SjS and 65 healthy controls was first performed, in which the associations of SjS with four commonly studied EBV antibodies including IgM-anti-viral capsid antigen (anti-VCA) antibody, IgG-anti-VCA antibody, IgG-anti-early antigen (anti-EA) antibody, and IgG-anti-EBV nuclear antigen 1 (anti-EBNA1) antibody were evaluated.