26 research outputs found

    Normal neonatal TREC and KREC levels in early onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis

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    Objective: Dysregulated central tolerance predisposes to autoimmune diseases. Reduced thymic output as well as compromised central B cell tolerance checkpoints have been proposed in the pathogenesis of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). The aim of this study was to investigate neonatal levels of T-cell receptor excision circles (TRECs) and kappa-deleting element excision circles (KRECs), as markers of T- and B-cell output at birth, in patients with early onset JIA. Methods: TRECs and KRECs were quantitated by multiplex qPCR from dried blood spots (DBS), collected 2–5 days after birth, in 156 children with early onset JIA and in 312 matched controls. Results: When analysed from neonatal dried blood spots, the median TREC level was 78 (IQR 55–113) in JIA cases and 88 (IQR 57–117) copies/well in controls. The median KREC level was 51 (IQR 35–69) and 53 (IQR 35–74) copies/well, in JIA cases and controls, respectively. Stratification by sex and age at disease onset did not reveal any difference in the levels of TRECs and KRECs. Conclusion: T- and B-cell output at birth, as measured by TREC and KREC levels in neonatal dried blood spots, does not differ in children with early onset JIA compared to controls

    Mesolithic on the Move

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    Juvenile idiopathic arthritis and the temporomandibular joint : a case-control study of magnetic resonance imaging findings in relation to clinical and psychosocial factors.

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    AIM: In juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is a particularly challenging joint to assess both clinically and with imaging. The aim of this article is to investigate TMJ magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings in relation to clinical and psychosocial factors in patients with JIA and healthy individuals related to TMJ arthritis in JIA. MATERIALS: In total, 45 patients (6-16 years) with JIA and 16 healthy age- and sex-matched controls were examined according to the diagnostic criteria for temporomandibular disorders (DC/TMD). The subjects answered questionnaires about psychosocial factors (pain intensity, pain-related disability, depression, stress, catastrophising, pain locations, and jaw function) and underwent bilateral MRI of the TMJ. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between JIA patients and healthy individuals in any of the TMJ MRI findings. Moderate/severe changes among JIA patients were found only for effusion, synovial thickening, condylar flattening, and erosion, with no moderate/severe changes in healthy individuals. In JIA patients, orofacial pain intensity was related to TMJ bone marrow oedema, and pain in jaw muscles during jaw function was related to TMJ bone marrow oedema and erosion. There were no significant correlations between psychosocial aspects and MRI findings. CONCLUSION: This study indicates a substantial overlap of TMJ MRI findings in both the inflammatory domain and the damage domain between JIA patients and healthy individuals. In JIA patients, the inflammatory MRI sign of bone marrow oedema seems to influence orofacial pain intensity

    Southwest Norway at the Pleistocene/ Holocene Transition: Landscape Development, Colonization, Site Types, Settlement Patterns

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    This is an electronic version of an article published in the Norwegian Archaeological Review© 2003 Copyright Taylor & Francis; Norwegian Archaeological Review is available online at http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00293650307293.This article contributes a western Norwegian perspective to the ongoing debate on the timing and nature of the earliest colonization of northern Europe. Despite there being a theoretical possibility of Late Glacial settlement, currently available data indicate a populating of the area around the termination of the Pleistocene ca. 10,000 (uncalibrated) yr BP. The earliest radiocarbon date in southwest Norway so far, 9750 BP, is only a terminus ante quem. Environmental, economic, technological and social factors involved as a result of the colonization process are discussed briefly, and trends in the archaeological record are emphasized and commented on. The economy reflected by the first complete annual subsistence patterns is interpreted as having been logistically mobile, highly adaptive and generally of opportunistic character. Particular attention is paid to Early Preboreal coastal and inland settlement of the ‘Boknafjord’ and ‘Myrvatn/Fløyrlivatn’ groups, the latter characterized by well-preserved site structures such as tent rings and hearths providing high-resolution radiocarbon dates and palaeobotanical evidence
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