Elevated serum interleukin-23 levels in ankylosing spondylitis patients and the relationship with disease activity

This study was aimed to evaluate the relationship between serum interleukin-23 (IL-23) levels and ankylosing spondylitis (AS).Twenty male patients diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis according to the 1984 modified New York criteria for AS and twenty male healthy controls were included in this study. The demographic characteristics, clinical and laboratory findings of the patients were recorded. Serum IL-23 levels, C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were measured in both the AS and control groups. The Bath ankylosing spondylitis disease activity ındex (BASDAI), the Bath ankylosing spondylitis functional index (BASFI), and the Bath ankylosing spondylitis metrology index (BASMI) were evaluated as disease activity parameters. The AS patients were divided into two subgroups as active and inactive in respect of CRP, ESR levels and BASDAI scores. The mean serum IL-23 levels of the AS and control groups were 334.45±176.54 pg/ml and 166.49±177.50 pg/ml respectively, and there was a significant difference between the groups. Correlation analysis of serum IL-23 levels with clinical and laboratory parameters showed that there were positive correlations between serum IL-23 levels and the BASDAI, BASFI scores in total, active and inactive patients and the BASMI scores in total and inactive patients and negative correlations between serum IL-23 levels and ESR in inactive patients. It was shown that altered serum IL-23 levels were related to AS disease activity. Further studies in large patient series are necessary to investigate the role of IL-23 protein in etiopathogenesis of AS

Prevalence of atopic disorders in rheumatic diseases

The aim of this study was to assess the point prevalences of hay fever, asthma, and atopic dermatitis in OA, RA, and AS, and to compare with healthy controls

Psychological status is associated with health related quality of life in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Objective: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic and disabling disease frequently effects physical and psychological well being. The aim of the present study was to determine the impact of psychological status on health related quality of life in patients with RA and also to assess which quality of life (QoL) instrument - disease specific and generic - is more prone to this effect

Pattern of Disease Onset, Diagnostic Delay, and Clinical Features in Juvenile Onset and Adult Onset Ankylosing Spondylitis

Objective. To assess the frequency of juvenile onset ankylosing spondylitis (JOAS) in Turkish patients with AS and to compare with adult onset AS (AOAS) in a cross-sectional study design

Imatinib reduces bone marrow fibrosis and overwhelms the adverse prognostic impact of reticulin formation in patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia

Aims Before the era of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), the presence of bone marrow fibrosis (MF) in patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) has been established as a poor prognostic factor. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of imatinib treatment on MF and the prognostic significance of MF at this new era of CML therapy

Deregulated WNT signaling in childhood T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia

WNT signaling has been implicated in the regulation of hematopoietic stem cells and plays an important role during T-cell development in thymus. Here we investigated WNT pathway activation in childhood T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) patients. To evaluate the potential role of WNT signaling in T-cell leukomogenesis, we performed expression analysis of key components of WNT pathway. More than 85% of the childhood T-ALL patients showed upregulated β-catenin expression at the protein level compared with normal human thymocytes. The impact of this upregulation was reflected in high expression of known target genes (AXIN2, c-MYC, TCF1 and LEF). Especially AXIN2, the universal target gene of WNT pathway, was upregulated at both mRNA and