ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the effects of alcohol extract of Kunmu decoction on proliferation and apoptosis of rheumatoid arthritis fibroblast-like synoviocytes (RA-FLS). Methods Synovial tissues were obtained from patients with active RA received joint replacement or arthroscopy. The surface antigen and the amount of apoptotic cells were determined by flow cytometry. The inhibitive effect was detected by MTT assay. Results The CD90+surface antigen of synoviocytes was (94.78 ± 0.98)%. The inhibitive effect on the proliferation in all treatment groups were in a time-and dose-dependent manner. The apoptosis rate was increased in a dose-dependent manner among all dosage alcohol extract groups. Conclusion Kunmu decoction might inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis of RA-FLS.
ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the correlation between dyslipidemia and important organ damage in patients with active systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) without treatment. Methods Serum sam-ples from 71 active SLE patients and 30 healthy controls were obtained to measure lipid profiles including total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), apolipoproteinA1 (apoA1), apolipoproteinB100 (apoB) and lipoprotein a (LPa). Clinical parameters were recorded. Results The levels of serum TC, TG, LDL, apoB in active SLE patients were higher than those in healthy controls, in contrast,the levels of HDL,apoA1 were much lower (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Patients with important organ damages had longer disease course and elevated levels of serum TC, TG, LDL and apoB concentrations than those without organ damage (P<0.05 or P<0.01), especially in patients with cadiovascular diseases (CVD) (P<0.01). Moreover, these changes in lipid metabolism were positively correl-ated with disease course and negatively with C3 level (P<0.05 or P<0.01). The elevated serum TC and LDL concentrations were negatively correlated with C4 level (P<0.05). Conclusion Severe dyslipidemia is present in active SLE patients.It is correlated with disease course and disease activity. Increased serum TC, TG, LDL and apoB concentrations play key roles in patients with important organ damages.
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Objective To study serum levels of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) and its correlation with accumulation degree of 99Tcm-MDP on bone and arthritis and to study the role of sICAM-1 in the diagnosis of patients with early RA. Methods Serum levels of sICAM-1 were measured by immunoenzymetic assay (ELISA). 99mTc-MDP scintigraphy was carried out for the same patients. The significant test between serum levels of sICAM-1 of three groups was performed with analysis of variance; Correlations between serum levels of sICAM-1 and index of semiquatitive 99Tcm-MDP were obtained using sperman's ranks correlation method. Results Compared with control group,serum levels of sICAM-1 were significantly higher in standard group (group A) (P<0.01) and non-standard group (group B) (P<0.05). No significant difference was found between group A and B(P>0.05). Serum levels of sICAM-1 were positively correlated with 99Tcm-MDP scintigraphy. Most patients of non-standard group and standard group showed visible medium-high uptake of 99Tcm-MDP. While control group had not obviously uptake of 99Tcm-MDP. Conclusion Serum levels of sICAM-1, semiquatitive 99Tcm-MDP scintigraphy, accumulation degree of radiopharmuceuutial on bone and arthritis are helpful for diagnosis of early rheumatoid arthritis and judge-ment of the clinical status and improvement of the prognosis.