Impaired phagocytosis and reactive oxygen species production in phagocytes is associated with systemic vasculitis

BACKGROUND: Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies associated vasculitides (AAV) is a group of autoimmune diseases, characterized by small vessel inflammation. Phagocytes such as neutrophils and monocytes are the main effector cells found around the inflamed vessel wall. Therefore, we wanted to investigate aspects of function and activation of these cells in patients with AAV.METHODS: Flow cytometry was used to evaluate: the expression of activation markers (CD11c, CD62L, CD177 and C5aR); the number of recently released neutrophils from bone marrow, defined as CD10(-)D16(low) cells in peripheral blood; and the capacity of peripheral blood monocytes and polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) to produce reactive oxygen species and to phagocytose opsonized bacteria.RESULTS: AAV patients (n = 104) showed an increase of CD10(-)CD16(low) neutrophils and total PMN in peripheral blood, suggesting a combination of increased bone marrow release and prolonged survival. An increased percentage of AAV PMN expressed CD177 but no other signs of activation were seen. A decreased production of reactive oxygen species was observed in AAV phagocytes, which was associated with disease activity. Moreover, granulocytes from patients with microscopic polyangiitis showed lower oxidative burst capacity compared to patients with granulomatosis with polyangiitis or eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis. In addition, decreased phagocytosis capacity was seen in PMN and monocytes.CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that phagocytes from AAV patients have impaired function, are easily mobilized from bone marrow but are not particularly activated. The association between low reactive oxygen species formation in PMN and disease severity is consistent with findings in other autoimmune diseases and might be considered as a risk factor

När verksamheter läggs ned och förändras : En registerstudie av arbetsplatsförändringar och deras konsekvenser

Rörlighet och flexibilitet inom arbetslivet beskrivs idag främst i positiva termer som något ständigt eftersträvansvärt och centralt. Bilden blir dock en­sidig om man inte belyser både negativa och positiva konsekvenser av de för­ändringar som genomförs på arbetsplatserna. I rapporten behandlas den organisationsomvandling som äger rum i arbets­livet när arbetsplatser slås samman, delas upp, läggs ned eller förändras på andra sätt. Med hjälp av riksomfattande longitudinella data studeras några av de konsekvenser som förändringarna får för den enskilde. Till omvandlingens ne­ga­tiva sidor hör bl.a. att några förlorar sina arbeten, att andra tvingas byta arbe­te och att en del hamnar utanför arbetsmarknaden under lång tid. Sam­tidigt läggs en kostnad på det allmänna i form av ut­betal­ningar från social­för­säk­ringarna. Vinster på ett ställe kan dyka upp som kostnader på ett annat ställe. Rapporten är ett försök att komplettera bilden av ske­en­det genom att peka på en rad negativa konse­kven­ser av den snabba före­tags­om­vand­ling som ägt rum under senare tid.MOBIL-projekte

Sjukfrånvaro och hälsa före och efter hög sjuknärvaro

Sjuknärvaro innebär att en person går till arbetet trots att hon bedömer att hon på grund av sitt hälsotillstånd borde vara sjukskriven. Hur enskilda individers sjuknärvaro och sjukfrånvaro hänger samman och beror av individernas självskattade hälsotillstånd har inte granskats närmare i forskningen. Denna studie undersöker hur sjukfrånvaron sett ut de fem åren före hög sjuknärvaro och hur sjukfrånvaron utvecklats de fem åren efter hög sjuknärvaro i den yrkesaktiva befolkningen i Sverige

Self-reported hearing difficulties, main income sources, and socio-economic status; a cross-sectional population-based study in Sweden

BACKGROUND: Hearing difficulties constitute the most common cause of disability globally. Yet, studies on people with hearing difficulties regarding socio-economic status (SES), work, long-term unemployment, sickness absence, and disability pension are scarce. The aim of the present study was to investigate the main income sources of men and women of working ages with and without self-reported hearing difficulties and associations with gender, age, SES, type of living area, and country of birth. METHODS: A cross-sectional population-based study, using information on self-reported hearing difficulties and SES of 19 045 subjects aged 20-64 years participating in Statistics Sweden's annual Living Conditions Surveys in any of the years 2004 through 2008. The information was linked to a nationwide database containing data on demographics and income sources. Odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated, using binary logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Hearing difficulties increased with age and were more common in men (age-adjusted OR: 1.42 (95% CI: 1.30-1.56)) with an overall prevalence of 13.1% in men and 9.8% in women. Using working men as reference, the OR of having hearing difficulties was 1.23 (0.94-1.60) in men with unemployment benefits and 1.36 (1.13-1.65) in men with sickness benefits or disability pension, when adjusting for age and SES. The corresponding figures in women were 1.59 (1.17-2.16) and 1.73 (1.46-2.06). The OR of having sickness benefits or disability pension in subjects with hearing difficulties was 1.36 (1.12-1.64) in men and 1.70 (1.43-2.01) in women, when adjusting for age and SES and using men and women with no hearing difficulties as reference. CONCLUSIONS: Hearing difficulties were more prevalent in men. After adjustment with age and SES as well as with type of living area and country of birth, a significant association with unemployment benefits was found only in women, and the associations with long-term sickness absence and disability pension tended to be stronger in women

Det ökade våldet i arbetslivet : En analys utifrån de svenska offerundersökningarna

Victim surveys from both Sweden and her Nordic neighbours show that the proportion reporting exposure to violence at work has increased during the 1990s. This article examines the question of how this trend should be understood. Does the increase reflect a rise in the number of people exposed to such violence, or is it rather due to an increase in the focus on violence and a broadening of the way violence is defined? On the basis of Swedish victim surveys covering the period 1984 - 2001, the article examines whether the character of this problem has changed as regards the seriousness of the violence, the occupational groups exposed to such violence, and the extent to which victims have contacted the police. The study shows that there has been an increase in exposure to threats and violence at work. This increase is found primarily in relation to violence and not to threats, among women, and in particular those working with some form of care provision. One surprising finding is that the propensity to report work-related violence has diminished somewhat, something that is not true for other types of violence. We thus find a high propensity to report when levels of exposure are low, and a lower reporting propensity once exposure to violence has increased. This trend is conceptualized against the background of a shift in and broadening of the type of incidents reported in the context of victim surveys. Acts of violence against persons employed in the health sector, schools and in care provision are less likely to be reported to the police than violence perpetrated against members of other occupational groups. Thus as care workers come to account for an increasing proportion of both violent incidents and the victims of violence, the aggregate propensity to report such incidents decreases. When the focus is limited to those individuals working in the care sector who have themselves been exposed to violence, there are no signs of a reduction in their reporting propensity

Self-reported hearing difficulties, main income sources, and socio-economic status; a cross-sectional population-based study in Sweden

BACKGROUND: Hearing difficulties constitute the most common cause of disability globally. Yet, studies on people with hearing difficulties regarding socio-economic status (SES), work, long-term unemployment, sickness absence, and disability pension are scarce. The aim of the present study was to investigate the main income sources of men and women of working ages with and without self-reported hearing difficulties and associations with gender, age, SES, type of living area, and country of birth. METHODS: A cross-sectional population-based study, using information on self-reported hearing difficulties and SES of 19 045 subjects aged 20-64 years participating in Statistics Sweden's annual Living Conditions Surveys in any of the years 2004 through 2008. The information was linked to a nationwide database containing data on demographics and income sources. Odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated, using binary logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Hearing difficulties increased with age and were more common in men (age-adjusted OR: 1.42 (95% CI: 1.30-1.56)) with an overall prevalence of 13.1% in men and 9.8% in women. Using working men as reference, the OR of having hearing difficulties was 1.23 (0.94-1.60) in men with unemployment benefits and 1.36 (1.13-1.65) in men with sickness benefits or disability pension, when adjusting for age and SES. The corresponding figures in women were 1.59 (1.17-2.16) and 1.73 (1.46-2.06). The OR of having sickness benefits or disability pension in subjects with hearing difficulties was 1.36 (1.12-1.64) in men and 1.70 (1.43-2.01) in women, when adjusting for age and SES and using men and women with no hearing difficulties as reference. CONCLUSIONS: Hearing difficulties were more prevalent in men. After adjustment with age and SES as well as with type of living area and country of birth, a significant association with unemployment benefits was found only in women, and the associations with long-term sickness absence and disability pension tended to be stronger in women