The Behaviour of Serum Survivin in Patients With Lupus Nephritis.

Background: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic, multi phenotypic, autoimmune inflammatory disease and renal involvement significantly worsens its prognosis. Apoptosis dysregulation plays a key pathogenic role. Survivin, a protein from the apoptosis inhibitors family, has been considered a promising strategy in cancer therapy and evaluated as one of the regulatory pathways in the scenario of immune-mediated disorders. Objective: This study aims to explore survivin behaviour in SLE patients with lupus nephritis (LN), assessing its potential as a therapeutic and prognostic biomarker. Methods: 297 SLE patients were classified based on the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 1997 criteria, from 2000 to 2015. In a cross-sectional study, the serum level of survivin was measured by an ELISA test and compared between 200 SLE individuals and healthy controls. In a longitudinal cohort, 97 patients with active LN had the concentration of survinin measured, before and after treatment with cyclophosphamide pulse therapy. Results: The serum concentration of survivin was significantly lower in the SLE group than in healthy controls, regardless of concomitant NL or disease activity. The longitudinal evaluation revealed a significant reduction in survivin serum level after treatment. However, survivin rates were not able to discriminate groups that achieved remission from those that maintained nephritis activity. Conclusion: Our study suggests that survivin levels in SLE patients are lower than in the general population. Even so, its use as a biomarker in SLE seems limited, not reflecting disease activity or response to LN treatment, as in other contexts.

Hypercalcemia in a patient with disseminated paracoccidioidomycosis: a case report.

INTRODUCTION: Hypercalcemia is well described in various granulomatous disorders, such as sarcoidosis, tuberculosis, berylliosis, leprosy and fungal infections. However, the association of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis and hypercalcemia is rare: to the best of our knowledge, only two cases have previously been reported, and neither had a clear documentation of the etiology of the hypercalcemia. CASE PRESENTATION: We report the case of a 22-year-old man in whom disseminated infection with paracoccidioidomycosis was associated with hypercalcemia. The patient had a high normal serum level of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D and a suppressed parathyroid hormone value, an indication that the hypercalcemia was not mediated by parathyroid hormone and might be associated with 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D. CONCLUSION: The episode resolved readily with administration of corticosteroids, an outcome suggesting that this is an effective treatment of hypercalcemia of this origin. On follow-up, while receiving antifungal therapy for P. brasiliensis the patient's calcium values remained normal.