Objective:To investigate the combined effect of both pioglitazone and methotrexate on disease activity of rheumatoid arthritis in a biphasic study; experimental and clinical.Methods:Experimentally: 50 rats were divided into 5 equal groups; controls, experimental arthritis, methorexate treated (0.1 mg/Kg daily), pioglitazone-treated (10 mg/kg daily), and methotrexate and pioglitazone treated. Clinically: forty-nine diabetic rheumatoid arthritis patients were included. Patients group consisted of 28 patients and they received pioglitazone 30 mg orally beside their usual treatment. Control group consisted of 21 patients and they continued their usual treatment plus placebo. Disease activity was assessed using DAS28 score. Patients were followed up for 3 months.Results:Pioglitazone produced a significant improvement of serum oxidative stress parameters (P < 0.05), and inflammatory cytokines in the treated arthritic group (P < 0.05). Clinically, the pioglitazone treated group showed significant improvement in DAS28 (P = 0.001) and C-reactive protein (P < 0.0001) compared to placebo group.Conclusion:The concomitant use of the PPAR γ agonist pioglitazone and methotrexate appears to be promising therapeutic strategy for rheumatoid arthritis patients.
The CAG repeat and its association with infertility has been debatable. Therefore, this study was planned to assess the distribution of CAG repeat expansion in Egyptian patients and to investigate its association with male infertility. Forty-five infertile men were eligible for the study in addition to 20 aged-matched fertile males as control. Semen analysis, scrotal sonography, assay of serum testosterone, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinising hormone (LH), and determination of the CAG repeat number within exon 1 of the androgen receptor (AR) gene were carried out. Statistically significant difference was found between infertile and control groups regarding sperm count, sperm motility, serum FSH level and CAG repeats (P < 0.05); statistically insignificant difference for the CAG repeats (P = 1.0) was found between oligozoospermic and asthenospermic groups; negative correlation was found between CAG repeat length and sperm count, and a positive correlation was found between CAG repeat length and serum FSH (P < 0.05). Our results validate the concept that long stretches of CAG repeat may be associated with lower AR function with derangement of sperm production, and this may contribute to male infertility in Egyptian men.
Serum sTLR2 can attenuate disease activity and negatively impact left ventricular diastolic dysfunction and hypercholersterelemia in SLE patients. Statins, corticosteroids and chloroquine increase sTLR2 levels.
Background
Behçet's disease (BD) is a chronic multisystem variable vessel vasculitis. Disease damage is irreversible and permanent. Validated tools evaluating damage are limited. Enhancements in the clinical treatment of vasculitis will take place from the development of refined and exclusive indices for individual vasculitic syndromes including BD and attempting their international validation.
Objectives
This aim was to develop and validate a simple BD Damage Index (BDI).
Methods
This was a nationwide study including 1252 BD patients. The work consisted of 3 stages. Stage 1: items generation for score content. Stage 2: items selection for the draft score was performed by an expert rheumatologist. Stage 3: the content validity of the draft score was assessed and BDI, Vasculitis Damage Index (VDI), Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody‐associated Vasculitis Index of Damage (AVID) and Combined Damage Assessment Index (CDAI) were calculated and compared.
Results
The mean age of the BD patients was 36.1 ± 9.9 years. Stages 1 and 2 resulted in a BDI instrument containing 73 items with a maximum score of 100. Stage 3, the VDI, CDAI, AVID, and BDI were 2.9 ± 2.2, 3.1 ± 2.3, 3.1 ± 2.3 and 5.1 ± 2.9, respectively. High correlations (r = .9) between comparable damage scores assured acceptable concurrent validity.
Conclusion
The proposed BDI represents a new robust and potentially useful tool when dealing with BD chronic status.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.