Effect of glucose concentration on peritoneal inflammatory cytokines in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis patients.

OBJECTIVE: It is known that glucose concentrations of peritoneal dialysis solutions are detrimental to the peritoneal membrane. In order to determine the effect of glucose concentration on cytokine levels of peritoneal fluid of continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients, a cross-sectional study was performed. METHODS: Nine non-diabetic CAPD patients participated in two 8-h dwell sessions of overnight exchanges in consecutive days, with 1.36% and 3.86% glucose containing peritoneal dialysis solutions (Baxter-Eczacibas). Peritoneal dialysis fluid tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and interleukin (IL)-6 levels were measured. RESULTS: TNF-alpha levels after 1.36% and 3.86% glucose used dwells were 23+/-14 pg/ml and 28+/-4 pg/ml, respectively (p=0.78). The IL-6 levels were 106+/-57 pg/ml and 115+/-63 pg/ml (p=0.81), respectively. CONCLUSION: In our in vivo study we found that the glucose concentration of the conventional lactate-based CAPD solution has no effect on basal IL-6 and TNF-alpha levels of peritoneal fluid. Further in vivo studies with non-lactate-based CAPD solutions are needed in order to determine the effect of glucose concentration per se on cytokine release

Short Communication Nutritional Status and Immune Functions in Maintenance Hemodialysis Patients

Epidemiological studies suggest various kinds of immune dysregulation in hemodialysis (HD) patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between immune functions and nutritional status of HD patients. We studied 54 patients with ESRD on chronic HD, included 34 females and 20 males with mean age 46.6 ± 16.3 (18-77) years. We measured the height and dry weight of all patients. The BMI was calculated by dividing weight (kg) by height squared (m 2 ). In all patients serum urea, creatinine, albumin, iron, cholesterol, triglyceride, CRP, IgG, IgM, IgA, CD4, CD8, CD19, CD16-56 lymphocytes were measured. Kt/V values were calculated according to DOQI guideline. In this study, a positive correlation between albumin, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels as nutritional parameters and immune functions in terms of total and subtype lymphocyte counts was observed. Further prospective studies are needed to determine the clinical importance of this finding and the appropriate means of measurement and effects of nutrition on immune function in hemodialysis patients

Nutritional Status and Immune Functions in Maintenance Hemodialysis Patients

Epidemiological studies suggest various kinds of immune dysregulation in hemodialysis (HD) patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between immune functions and nutritional status of HD patients. We studied 54 patients with ESRD on chronic HD, included 34 females and 20 males with mean age 46.6±16.3 (18–77) years. We measured the height and dry weight of all patients. The BMI was calculated by dividing weight (kg) by height squared (m2). In all patients serum urea, creatinine, albumin, iron, cholesterol, triglyceride, CRP, IgG, IgM, IgA, CD4, CD8, CD19, CD16-56 lymphocytes were measured. Kt/V values were calculated according to DOQI guideline. In this study, a positive correlation between albumin, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels as nutritional parameters and immune functions in terms of total and subtype lymphocyte counts was observed. Further prospective studies are needed to determine the clinical importance of this finding and the appropriate means of measurement and effects of nutrition on immune function in hemodialysis patients

Avaliação de entesopatia em pacientes com fibromialgia por meio do novo índice ultrassonográfico de entesite

OBJETIVO: Determinar a frequência de entesopatia na fibromialgia (FM) utilizando um método de ultrassonografia (US) recém-desenvolvido, o escore Madrid Sonography Enthesitis Index (MASEI). MÉTODOS: Este estudo foi realizado em 38 pacientes com FM consecutivos e 48 controles saudáveis pareados para idade e sexo. Seis sítios de ênteses (tuberosidade do olécrano, polos superior e inferior da patela, tuberosidade tibial, polos superior e inferior do calcâneo) nos dois membros inferiores foram avaliados. Todos os achados da US foram identificados de acordo com o escore MASEI. Os escores de pacientes e controles foram comparados usando-se o teste t de Student e o teste U de Mann-Whitney. A validade foi analisada pela curva receiver operating characteristic (ROC). Valores de P < 0,05 foram considerados significativos. RESULTADOS: O escore total de entesite foi 7,39 ± 4,99 (média ± DP) para os pacientes com FM e 3,7 ± 3,22 para os controles saudáveis (P < 0,001). A curva ROC estabeleceu um escore de US &gt; 3,5 no grupo de FM como o melhor ponto de corte para diferenciar casos de controles. Não houve correlação estatisticamente significativa entre o escore MASEI e a duração da FM, e a localização dos pontos dolorosos. CONCLUSÕES: Erros no diagnóstico de FM são prejudiciais aos pacientes e à comunidade, e a presença de entesopatia entre pacientes com FM é crescente. Sua detecção por meio do escore MASEI pode ser útil para discriminar pacientes com FM, cujos sintomas e sinais são mal definidos, para evitar equívoco de tratamento

Increased Enthesopathy in Patients With Familial Mediterranean Fever Evaluation With a New Sonographic Enthesitis Index

Conclusions-This study showed significant enthesopathy in patients with familial Mediterranean fever. The findings support the hypothesis that familial Mediterranean fever and spondyloarthropathy may have common inflammatory mechanisms and suggest that the MASEI scoring system can be incorporated into clinical protocols for studying patients with familial Mediterranean fever in daily practice

Comparison of argon laser photocoagulation-induced cutaneous inflammation and skin pathergy test in Behcet's disease

Nonspecific increased inflammatory response is an important feature of Behcet's disease (BD). The skin pathergy reaction (SPR) which tests this hyperreactivity in the skin is frequently used as a diagnostic tool. This study aims to investigate the argon laser photocoagulation (ALP)-induced cutaneous inflammation in BD patients and controls and also to compare the results with the skin pathergy test (SPT). The study group consisted of 35 patients with BD and 28 healthy volunteers. The ALP was applied to the left forearms of all cases from 20-cm distance (2,000 mW, 100 A mu m) with exposure times ranging from 0.2 to 0.7 s with 0.1-s increments. Also, a SPT with three prics was performed to both forearms of all cases. The ALP-induced cutaneous inflammation and SPT were evaluated and scored with the same method at 48 h, and the SPR scores of 2+ and above was accepted as positive. Positive results as defined above were found in eight cases (23%) with the ALP and in nine (26%) with the SPT in patients with BD. There was no clear correlation between the ALP and SPT results and also between the exposure time to laser beam and SPR scores. The preliminary results of this study reveal that ALP can induce a skin hyperreactivity similar to the needle prick-induced SPR in patients with BD. We, herein, showed that ALP can induce skin inflammation with its thermal effect and without any inoculation of antigen in BD. This method would help to develop another experimental method to investigate the cutaneous inflammation in BD

Association Between The Presence Of Amyloidosis In Patients With Ankylosing Spondylitis and Polymorphisms In Type 1/Type 2 Serum Amyloid A Protein Genes, Mediterranean Fever Genes

77th Annual Meeting of the American-College-of-Rheumatology / 48th Annual Meeting of the Association-of-Rheumatology-Health-Professionals -- OCT 25-30, 2013 -- San Diego, CAWOS: 000325359202036…Amer Coll Rheumatol, Assoc Rheumatol Hlth Profes