A device to simulate contaminant transfer and surface and subsurface flow through intact soil monoliths

International audienceMany contaminants of agricultural origin are released into rural environments, particularly at the soil surface. Their fate has been extensively investigated in repacked soils, but only few studies have addressed their transport in structurally preserved natural soils. Much remains unknown about their fate and transfer within and between This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Predictive value of anti-CarP and anti-PAD3 antibodies alone or in combination with RF and ACPA on the severity of rheumatoid arthritis

OBJECTIVES To analyse the predictive value of anti-carbamylated protein (anti-CarP) and anti-peptidyl-arginine deiminase type-3 (anti-PAD3) antibodies, alone or in combination with rheumatoid factors (RFs) and anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA), to identify patients at high risk of developing severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) outcomes. METHODS Patients within the « Swiss Clinical Quality Management » registry with a biobank sample were tested for RFs, ACPA, anti-CarP, and anti-PAD3 antibodies. We examined the association of each autoantibody with DAS28, HAQ and radiographic damage (Ratingen) at baseline and longitudinally. RESULTS Analyses included 851 established RA patients and 516 disease controls [axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA = 320) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA = 196)]. Anti-CarP and anti-PAD3 antibodies were respectively present in 22.4% and 10.7% of the whole RA population, and in 13.2% and 3.8% of the RF and ACPA double seronegative patients. At baseline, RA patients with anti-PAD3 had higher DAS28 (4.2 vs 3.7; p = 0.005) and significantly more radiographic damage (14.9 vs 8.8; p = 0.02) than anti-PAD3 negative patients. In ACPA negative subgroup, baseline Ratingen scores were significantly higher in anti-PAD3 positive patients (p = 0.01). The combination of anti-PAD3, RF IgM, and ACPA was associated with significantly higher baseline radiographic scores than the double seropositive group (p = 0.04). The presence of any two of the previous autoantibodies was associated with significantly greater radiographic progression over 10 years than if all were absent (p = 0.02). There were no differences on RA outcome measures with regards to anti-CarP. CONCLUSIONS Anti-PAD3 antibodies are associated with higher disease activity and joint damage scores in RA patients