Serum vitamin D and vitamin D receptor gene polymorphism in Moroccan patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

Background: Vitamin D plays an important role in the immunomodulation and could be involved in the development of autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematous (SLE). The study of the polymorphism of the Vitamin D Receptor (VDR) gene may be of interest in explaining the pathophysiology of SLE.Methods: In this study, we aimed to examine the characteristics of VDR gene BsmI polymorphism for the first time in Moroccan patients with SLE and their relationship with clinical manifestations of the disease. We also measured the serum level of 25-hyroxyvitamin D3 to assess its relation to such polymorphism.Results: The study included 66 SLE patients and 91 healthy controls. Our results showed that there were no differences observed in VDR genotypes and allelic distribution within the two groups. Both groups were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, with no significant P values for the observed and expected genotype frequencies. 25-hyroxyvitamin D3 serum levels were the same in the two groups.Conclusions: Based on the results of the present study. We cannot verify any association between VDR gene BsmI polymorphism and SLE. This polymorphism could not be regarded as a genetic marker of the SLE. A larger study examining BsmI and other VDR gene polymorphisms is needed

Brown tumor of the palate as first manifestation of primary hyperparathyroidism: a case report

Brown tumor is one of the lesions that develop in patients with hyperparathyroidism. Skeletal bones including maxillo-facial ones can be the site of this lesion. Owing to the improve methods of blood analysis most of cases of primary hyperparathyroidism are diagnosed early and asymptomatically making advanced disease with bone lesions extremely rare. This article contains a case of a 43-year-old female patient who presented with palatal swelling as the first sign of primary hyperparathyroidism. The diagnosis was suggested by the histological findings and confirmed by the endocrinologic status

Maladie de Still de l´adulte et lymphome: une association rare

La maladie de Still de l´adulte (MSA) et les lymphomes sont des pathologies dont la présentation clinique et même histopathologique est très proche. L′association des deux pathologies est rarement rapportée dans la littérature. Nous rapportons une observation de maladie de Still de l′adulte diagnostiquée chez une patiente de 26 ans antérieurement traitée pour lymphome malin non hodgkinien (LMNH) à grandes cellules B par chimiothérapie et auto-greffe de cellules souches hématopoïétiques avec rémission complète. Les cas de MSA associés aux lymphomes sont rares et dans tous les cas le diagnostic de MSA avait précédé celui de lymphome. Notre observation est particulière par la succession LMNH puis MSA et soulève plusieurs hypothèses sur les liens entre ces deux pathologies. Les liens entre maladies dysimmunitaires et hémopathies lymphoïdes ont largement été prouvés, qu′il s′agisse de l′évolution de maladies auto-immunes vers un lymphome ou de manifestations dysimmunitaires survenant au cours de ce dernier. Notre cas illustre la difficulté de distinction entre ces entités