Avaliação da aterosclerose subclínica e de níveis plasmáticos de LDL minimamente modificada em pacientes com espondilite anquilosante e sua correlação com a atividade da doença

AbstractIntroductionAccelerated atherosclerosis has been shown in some autoimmune diseases, mainly in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and Rheumatoid Arthritis. Although high preva- lence of corticosteroids use may be a confounding factor due to their detrimental effects on several risk factors, systemic inflammation per se is supposed to play an important role in atherogenesis in these patients.MethodsWe have evaluated sub-clinical atherosclerosis and plasma levels of circulating electronegative LDL, which represents the fraction of LDL that is minimally modified, in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Fourteen patients who fulfilled the modified New York criteria for AS were compared with 13 paired controls. Carotid intimal-media thick- ness (IMT) was assessed by ultrasonography bilaterally in common carotid artery, internal carotid artery and in the bifurcation. Groups were homogeneous regarding cardiovascular risk factors. Only a single patient in AS group was in use of corticosteroid.ResultsThe presence of active inflammation was demonstrated by elevated BASDAI and higher CRP levels and in patients versus controls (12.36 vs. 3.45mg/dl, P = 0.002). No dif- ference was found in carotid IMT between both groups, in any site of artery. Averaged IMT (6 measurements, at 3 pre-specified sites bilaterally) was 0.72 ± 0.28 in AS group and 0.70 ± 0.45mm in controls (P = 0.91). Minimally modified LDL did not differ significantly either between patients and controls (14.03 ± 17.40 vs. 13.21 ± 10.21; P = 0.88).ConclusionsPatients with AS did not show increased carotid IMT in comparison to con- trols. In the same way, circulating plasma levels of LDL (-), did not differ significantly in both groups

The importance of the DSM-5 posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms of cognitions and mood in traumatized children and adolescents : two network approaches

BACKGROUND The aim of this study is to provide a better understanding of the central symptoms of DSM-5 posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children and adolescents from the perspective of the child and its caregiver. Identifying core symptoms of PTSD can help clinicians to understand what may be relevant targets for treatment. PTSD may present itself differently in children and adolescents compared to adults, and no study so far has investigated the DSM-5 PTSD conceptualization using network analysis. METHODS The network structure of DSM-5 PTSD was investigated in a clinical sample of n~=~475 self-reports of children and adolescents and n~=~424 caregiver-reports using (a) regularized partial correlation models and (b) a Bayesian approach computing directed acyclic graphs (DAGs). RESULTS (a) The 20 DSM-5 PTSD symptoms were positively connected within the self-report and the caregiver-report sample. The most central symptoms were negative trauma-related cognitions and persistent negative emotional state for the self-report and negative trauma-related cognitions, intrusive thoughts or memories and exaggerated startle response for the caregiver-report. (b) Similarly, symptoms in the negative alterations in cognitions and mood cluster (NACM) have emerged as key drivers of other symptoms in traumatized children and adolescents. CONCLUSIONS As the symptoms in the DSM-5 NACM cluster were central in our regularized partial correlation networks and also appeared to be the driving forces in the DAGs, these might represent important symptoms within PTSD symptomatology and may offer key targets in PTSD treatment for children and adolescents