ABSTRACT
Aggrecan was measured in the sera of 31 children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and in the synovial fluid of 10 of them. Patients were evaluated at baseline and 3 months later. Radiographs were repeated also after 1 year. As comparison, 15 apparently healthy children with no disease and 10 children with arthritis due to other collagen vascular diseases were studied. Baseline serum aggrecan was significantly higher in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis patients compared to controls and other patients. On re-evaluation, a significant drop in serum aggrecan from baseline values coincided with a significant drop in clinical and laboratory indices of active inflammation. Serum aggrecan can help to assess the extent of cartilage destruction and is useful as a prognostic tool to predict joint damage in patients with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis
Subject(s)
Humans , Child , Aggrecans , Collagen Diseases/blood , Collagen Diseases/blood , Extracellular Matrix Proteins/analysis , Proteoglycans/analysis , Severity of Illness Index , Synovial Fluid/chemistryABSTRACT
Os autores reviram a literatura referente as alteracoes hemostaticas em portadores de vasculites primarias ou naquelas associadas as doencas do colageno. Estes pacientes apresentam uma tendencia trombogenica secundaria a ativacao de plaquetas e a lesao da celula endotelial, muitas vezes associada a alteracoes complexas do sistema de coagulacao e fibrinolise. A ativacao plaquetaria, que se mantem mesmo apos o termino do processo inflamatorio inicial, pode ter um papel central na obstrucao da luz do vaso que se observa na evolucao desses processos.
Subject(s)
Humans , Animals , Hemostasis , Vasculitis/blood , Collagen Diseases/blood , Collagen Diseases/complications , Endothelium, Vascular , Thrombosis/blood , Thrombosis/complications , Vasculitis/complicationsABSTRACT
The lymphocyte phenotypes were enumerated in 10 patients with collagen diseases at 0 h, 4 h, 24 h and 7 days after a megadose (100 mg) iv pulse dexamethasone. A significant decrease in CD3 (from a mean of 2324.3/mm3 to 705.9/mm3) and CD4 (from a mean of 1642.6 to 317.6/mm3) cells was observed at 4 h, which recovered partially by 24 h (186.7 and 1226.3/mm3 respectively) and completely at 7 days (2496.1 and 1838.4/mm3). A transient decrease in CD8 cells at 4 h was also observed. There was no significant effect on B cells.