Biological insights into systemic lupus erythematosus through an immune cell-specific transcriptome-wide association study.

Objective: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified >100 risk loci for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), but the disease genes at most loci remain unclear, hampering translation of these genetic discoveries. We aimed to prioritise genes underlying the 110 SLE loci that were identified in the latest East Asian GWAS meta-analysis.

Methods: We built gene expression predictive models in blood B cells, CD4 and CD8 T cells, monocytes, natural killer cells and peripheral blood cells of 105 Japanese individuals.

Meta-analysis of 208370 East Asians identifies 113 susceptibility loci for systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objective: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), an autoimmune disorder, has been associated with nearly 100 susceptibility loci. Nevertheless, these loci only partially explain SLE heritability and their putative causal variants are rarely prioritised, which make challenging to elucidate disease biology. To detect new SLE loci and causal variants, we performed the largest genome-wide meta-analysis for SLE in East Asian populations.

Serum hepcidin level, iron metabolism and osteoporosis in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Hepcidin, a major regulator of iron metabolism and homeostasis, is regulated by inflammation. Recent studies have suggested that hepcidin and iron metabolism are involved in osteoporosis, and the aim of this study was to determine whether serum hepcidin levels are correlated with the degree of osteoporosis in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). A total of 262 patients with RA (67.

The Assessment of the Efficacy of Dipeptidyl Peptidase-4 Inhibitors in Patients with Glucocorticoid-induced Diabetes by Continuous Glucose Monitoring.

Objective The administration of glucocorticoids usually causes a mild increase in fasting glucose levels and a greater dose-dependent increase in postprandial values in patients without pre-existing diabetes mellitus. Patients with persistent hyperglycemia due to glucocorticoid therapy sometimes require insulin therapy, which might result in increased weight gain and more episodes of hypoglycemia, some of which are severe. On the other hand, scant evidence is available on the efficacy of oral hypoglycemic agents in treating glucocorticoid-induced diabetes.

Effects of Biologic Agents in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Amyloidosis Treated with Hemodialysis.

Objective Our objective was to examine the safety and effects of therapy with biologics on the prognosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with reactive amyloid A (AA) amyloidosis on hemodialysis (HD). Methods Twenty-eight patients with an established diagnosis of reactive AA amyloidosis participated in the study. The survival was calculated from the date of HD initiation until the time of death, or up to end of June 2015 for the patients who were still alive.

Renal histological heterogeneity and functional progress in normoalbuminuric and microalbuminuric Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes.

Background And Objectives: Renal histological injury patterns in type 2 diabetes are heterogeneous. We compared renal histological injury patterns using renal biopsy findings with renal function and followed up renal functional changes in normoalbuminuric and microalbuminuric patients with type 2 diabetes to determine whether renal function progresses according to injury patterns.

Design Setting Participants And Measurements: We examined 111 patients with type 2 diabetes with percutaneous renal biopsy (78 men, 52±11 years old, 59 normoalbuminuria, 52 microalbuminuria) and followed up 37 cases for 11 years.

Effects of a biologic agent in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis after treatment for methotrexate-associated B-cell lymphoma: a case report.

Background: Several studies have suggested an increased risk of malignant tumor in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. It has been also reported that rheumatoid arthritis patients have a high incidence of lymphoma compared with the general population, and that patients receiving methotrexate, which is the anchor drug for rheumatoid arthritis treatment, can develop lymphoproliferative disease. Nevertheless, management of rheumatoid arthritis after treatment for methotrexate-associated lymphoma has not been fully investigated.

Treatment with biologic agents improves the prognosis of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and amyloidosis.

Objective: Reactive amyloid A (AA) amyloidosis is a serious and life-threatening systemic complication of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We evaluated the safety of therapy with anti-tumor necrosis factor and anti-interleukin 6 biologic agents in RA patients with reactive AA amyloidosis, together with prognosis and hemodialysis (HD)-free survival, in comparison with patients with AA amyloidosis without such therapy.

Methods: One hundred thirty-three patients with an established diagnosis of reactive AA amyloidosis participated in the study.

Association between clinical parameters and amyloid-positive area in gastroduodenal biopsy in reactive amyloidosis associated with rheumatoid arthritis.

Our study was aimed to clarify an association between gastrointestinal (GI) amyloid-positive area and various kinds of factors including renal function in reactive amyloidosis associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Twenty-five patients with an established diagnosis of reactive AA amyloidosis participated in the study between January 1989 and December 2009. Each patient satisfied the 1987 American Rheumatism Association criteria for RA.