Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE): clinical and laboratory profile of patients followed at the Onofre Lopes University Hospital (UFRN - Natal/Brazil) and early organ damage in patients with recently diagnosed disease

OBJECTIVE: to analyse clinical and laboratory features of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and to describe the early damage outcome of SLE patients in recent onset disease. METHODS: a retrospective study of 164 SLE patients followed at The Onofre Lopes University Hospital - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (ufrn), from April, 2003 to December, 2004. The clinical and laboratory data were analyzed according to American College of Rheumatology criteria for sle. Thirty two patients between two and three years of disease were evaluated concerning the irreversible damage using slicc/acr di (Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics/American College of Rheumatology Damage Index). RESULTS: the most frequent clinical manifestations were cutaneous (90.2%), specially photosensitivity. The other clinical and laboratory features were similar to the literature. Early organ damage was present in nine patients (28.1%) with recent onset disease and the cutaneous involvement (12.5%) was the most frequent too. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that high exposure to ultraviolet light rays could influence clinical manifestations and early damage in sle patients.OBJETIVO: Determinar a freqüência das manifestações clínicas e laboratoriais de pacientes com lúpus eritematoso sistêmico (LES) e identificar os danos precoces nos pacientes com diagnóstico recente. MÉTODOS: Avaliação retrospectiva de 164 pacientes com LES do ambulatório de Reumatologia do Hospital Universitário Onofre Lopes - UFRN, de abril de 2003 a dezembro de 2004. As manifestações clínicas e laboratoriais avaliadas referem-se aos critérios de classificação do Colégio Americano de Reumatologia. A avaliação do índice de dano, através do SLICC/ACR DI (Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics/American College of Rheumatology Damage Index) foi realizada em 32 pacientes que tinham entre dois e três anos de diagnóstico. RESULTADOS: As manifestações clínicas mais freqüentes foram as cutâneas (90,2%), em especial a fotossensibilidade. As demais manifestações clínicas e laboratoriais foram semelhantes às descritas na literatura. Dano orgânico precoce foi identificado em nove pacientes com doença recente (28,1%) e, novamente, o acometimento cutâneo foi o mais freqüente (12,5%). CONCLUSÃO: Tanto as manifestações clínicas quanto os danos orgânicos precoces mais comuns foram relacionados à pele. Portanto, faz-se necessário o incentivo à fotoproteção em nossa região, que tem alta influência dos raios ultravioleta.Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte Departamento de Medicina ClínicaUFRNUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP)UNIFESPSciEL

Characterisation of microbial attack on archaeological bone

As part of an EU funded project to investigate the factors influencing bone preservation in the archaeological record, more than 250 bones from 41 archaeological sites in five countries spanning four climatic regions were studied for diagenetic alteration. Sites were selected to cover a range of environmental conditions and archaeological contexts. Microscopic and physical (mercury intrusion porosimetry) analyses of these bones revealed that the majority (68%) had suffered microbial attack. Furthermore, significant differences were found between animal and human bone in both the state of preservation and the type of microbial attack present. These differences in preservation might result from differences in early taphonomy of the bones. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved