Objective. To develop and validate a self-administered instrument for measuring functional status in Japanese-speaking rheumatoid arthritis patients. Methods. We translated the Stanford Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) into Japanese (original HAQ), and then made a tentative Japanese version of the HAQ (J-HAQ) with culturally appropriate modifications of the arising, eating, and reach category questions. The questionnaire was then administered to 3,763 RA patients (82.6% female; mean age 58.0 years; mean onset age 47.4 years; mean disease duration 10.5 years).
Results. This instrument showed excellent internal reliability (Cronbach
A glycosphingolipid, having a carbohydrate structure similar to that of hematoside but with a higher migration rate on thin-layer chromatography, was isolated from equine erythrocyte membranes. The sialosyl residue of this glycolipid was not hydrolyzed by neuraminidase. The sialic acid, isolated from the acid hydrolysate, was identified as a new sialic 1. 3 uring the course of investigation on immunologically
Disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) combination therapies are used widely, but there have been few reports clearly demonstrating that combination therapy is more effective than DMARD monotherapy. We conducted a multicenter, double-blind controlled trial in order to clarify that the combination of methotrexate and bucillamine is more effective than either alone. The subjects of this study were 71 patients with active rheumatoid arthritis within 2 years of onset. Dosages were 8 mg methotrexate with 5 mg folic acid per week (MTX group), 200 mg bucillamine per day (BUC group), or both MTX and BUC (combination group). Clinical effects and adverse reactions were observed for 96 weeks. The ACR 20 response rate was 79.2% in the combination group, significantly higher than the rates of 43.5% for the MTX group (P = 0.008) and 45.8% for the BUC group (P = 0.0178). The cumulative survival curve of maintaining the ACR 20 response was significantly higher in the combination group than in the MTX and BUC groups (P = 0.0123 and P = 0.0088, respectively). The mean increase in the total Sharp score over 96 weeks was 12.6 +/- 9.0 in the combination group, significantly lower (P = 0.0468) than the value of 28.0 +/- 28.3 for the single DMARD (combined MTX and BUC) group. The incidence of adverse reactions did not differ significantly between the three groups. It was concluded that the combination therapy with MTX and BUC showed significantly higher clinical efficacy than either of the single DMARD therapies.
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