1,721,117 research outputs found
Vitamin D Deficiency in a Cohort of Patients with Systemic Scleroderma from the South of Spain Reply
No full textCoronary atherosclerosis using computed tomography coronary angiography in patients with systemic sclerosis: comment on the article by Mok et al
No full textVitamin D levels and potential impact in systemic sclerosis
No full textVitamin D is essential not only for calcium and bone metabolism, but it also may exert other biological activities, including immunomodulation through the expression of vitamin D receptor in antigen-presenting cells and activated T cells. Evidence from animal models and human prospective studies of rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, type I diabetes, and systemic lupus erythematosus, indeed suggested an important role for vitamin D as a modifiable environmental factor in autoimmune diseases. In systemic sclerosis (SSc), this role has not been completely dissected, although recent studies clearly evidenced a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency. Moreover, some degree of association between vitamin D deficiency and disease activity or phenotype characteristics has also been observed. Vitamin D deficiency in SSc may be related to several factors: insufficient sun exposure due to disability and skin fibrosis, insufficient intake because of gut involvement and malabsorption. Although it is advisable to regularly check vitamin D status in these patients, there is no consensus about which vitamin D supplementation regimen might be sufficient to modulate immunological homeostasis, and possibly reduce disease activity or severity, thus further prospective studies are needed. Moreover, novel vitamin D analogues with more pronounced immune modulatory effect and lower activity on calcium metabolism are in the pipeline, and might represent a great innovative opportunity for the treatment of vitamin D deficiency in such autoimmune disorders
Liver involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus: incidence, clinical course and outcome of lupus hepatitis
No full textObjective The aims of this study were to assess the spectrum of liver disease occurring in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), primarily the incidence, clinical course and outcome of lupus hepatitis (LH). Methods The records of 283 SLE out-patients referred to our Unit between 1994 and 2008 were reviewed to identify clinical or laboratory evidence of liver involvement. Liver enzyme values were considered abnormal when a sustained increase in serum transaminase levels above the normal value was observed for a period of at least three months or when the increase was confirmed in two consecutive assessments. Study inclusion criteria were a follow-up of at least 12 months and three liver function tests per year over the course of disease. Results A total of 242 patients with a mean follow-up of 72.2 +/- 59.1 months were identified. Liver enzyme abnormalities were observed in 45 (18.6%) patients. Of these, only 14 cases (5.8%) could be attributed to LH. Clinical course and response to therapy enabled the identification of three different patterns: remitting, unremitting and relapsing forms. Acute hepatitis and liver failure were not observed. Low serum alanine transaminase levels at diagnosis and high doses of prednisone were associated to resolution of LH. Clinical course or response to therapy did not appear to be affected by liver histology or serological findings. Conclusions LH is generally sub-clinical with a fluctuating course and responds well to moderate to high doses of prednisone without progression to end-stage liver disease
Familial chilblain and late contractural arachnodactyly: A novel association?
No full textWe report an Italian family suffering from chilblain. Seven members over three generations affected, two of them presenting association with late contractural arachnodactyly. Inflammatory cutaneous lesions following exposure to cold or drop in temperature are called chilblain. Arachnodactyly is an hallmark of hereditary connective tissue disorders such as Marfan's syndrome and Beals' syndrome. The latter, showing joint congenital contractures, is called indeed congenital contractural arachnodactyly. We speculate that an underlying alteration in connective tissue could lead to the association between chilblain lesions and contractural arachnodactyly
Primary antiphospholipid syndrome with mesenteric venous thrombosis presenting with intestinal infarction: a case description
No full text
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
- …
