Serum ferritin levels may be a useful marker of disease activity in SLE patients.

Aim:Although the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is likely to be multifactorial, the inflammatory nature of SLE implies that a state of oxidative stress may exist in this disease, which may contribute to immune cell dysfunction, auto-antigen production and auto-antibody reactivity. This study was conducted to investigate the oxidant/antioxidant status of patients with SLE and to correlate this with disease activity.Methods: Sixteen clinically active, 12 clinically inactive SLE patients and 11 healthy controls were included into the study and antioxidant potential (AOP), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), superoxide dismutase (SOD), adenosine deaminase (ADA), malondialdehyde (MDA), and xanthine oxidase (XO) activity levels in erythrocytes and AOP, GSH-Px, MDA, and XO activity levels in plasma were measured. Results:In erythrocytes; AOP was higher in SLE patients (both active and inactive), CAT activity was higher in inactive SLE patients, GSH-Px, SOD and XO activity were lower in SLE patients (active and inactive) than the control group. In plasma; SLE patients (active and inactive) had higher AOP levels, activity of GSH-Px was lower in SLE groups (active and inactive), activity of MDA was lower in active SLE patients, and activity of XO was higher in the active SLE patients than the control group.Conclusion: Antioxidant status was impaired in SLE patients but there was no significant difference between the active and inactive SLE groups, so oxidative stress may play a role in the pathogenesis of SLE but probably is not correlated with disease activity.

Objective: The aim of the study was to assess the antifibrotic effect of systemically applied halofuginone after subglottic injury. Materials and Methods: After standardized trauma to subglottic area, rats were divided into two groups: a study group that received treatment and a control group that did not. The rats were treated with 0.1 mg/kg/day intraperitoneal halofuginone injection for 30 days. The larynx specimens were examined histopathologically under light microscope for epithelization, inflammation, necrosis, and fibrosis. Results: The fibrosis indexes of the treated group were significantly less than those of the control group (P < .01). Conclusions: Systemically applied halofuginone hydrobromide decreases fibrosis/scar tissue formation secondary to experimentally induced acute subglottic trauma.

The PTPN22 C1858T gene polymorphism has been recently reported to be associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in European and North American ancestry. In contrast, the frequency of PTPN22 C1858T polymorphism is extremely rare in Asian and African populations. As the genetic heterogeneity between populations is clearly present in RA, we wanted to investigate whether the PTPN22 C1858T polymorphism is associated with RA in Turkey and with autoantibody positivity. A total of 323 RA patients and 426 healthy controls were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism for the PTPN22 C1858T polymorphism (rs2476601). The frequencies of heterozygote genotype (CT) were 8.4% in RA patients and 5.4% in the healthy controls, respectively [odds ratio (OR): 1.6, P = 0.14]. The homozygote genotype (T/T) was absent in both RA patients and the healthy controls. When compared with the healthy controls, we found the significant associations between the frequency of PTPN22 heterozygote (CT) polymorphism and RA patients with RF positivity and anti-CCP positivity, respectively (OR: 2.05, P = 0.04 and OR: 2.1, P = 0.03, respectively). Our study suggests that the PTPN22 C1858T polymorphism acts as a susceptibility gene for autoantibody-positive RA in Turkey.

OBJECTIVES:To estimate and compare cost-of-illness (COI) and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS) in South Korea. METHODS: Patients with RA (nϭ196) and AS (nϭ191) were surveyed by face-to-face interviews at the Rheumatology Clinic of Seoul National University Hospital. Direct costs [medical costs (treatment, drug, private physiotherapy, traditional Chinese medicine, other alternative medicine), non-medical costs (travel, dietary supplements, auxiliary device, home assistance)], indirect costs (productivity loss due to job loss and sick leave) and deterioration in HRQOL of RA and AS patients were measured. HRQOL was assessed using KEQ-5D. Factors associated with COI and HRQOL were analyzed using multiple regression and multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS