High prevalence of arthropathy in HTLV-I carriers on a Japanese island
Article Abstract:
Patients with human T cell leukemia virus type-1 (HTLV-1) infections may be at greater risk for developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Researchers evaluated the incidence of HTLV-1 and RA among 7,087 people on a Japanese island where there is a high incidence of HTLV-1 infections. Twenty-six percent of this population was positive for HTLV-1. Of the 21 people with RA, nine tested positive for HTLV-1. This represented a 0.49% incidence of RA in combination with an HTLV-1 infection. These patients with RA and an HTLV-1 infection experience a milder level of joint swelling as well as less joint deterioration. However, patients with RA who also had HTLV-1 infections had equally advanced disease as compared to those patients with RA who did not have the infection.
Publication Name: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0003-4967
Year: 1996
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Prospective study of the clinical value of determining circulating IgA-alpha-1-antitrypsin complex using a prototype ELISA kit in patients with rheumatoid arthritis
Article Abstract:
Blood levels of an immune complex called IgA-a1-antitrypsin (IgA-AT) may be an important indicator of rheumatoid arthritis disease progression. Twenty-five patients with rheumatoid arthritis had higher IgA-AT blood levels than 21 healthy volunteers and 22 patients with osteoarthritis. IgA-AT levels also corresponded with measures of disease progression including erythrocyte sedimentation rate, number of painful or swollen joints, and disease progress as seen on X-ray. IgA-AT blood levels progressively decreased during 12 months of treatment.
Publication Name: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0003-4967
Year: 1996
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Characterisation of fibroblast-like cells in pannus lesions of patients with rheumatoid arthritis sharing properties of fibroblasts and chondrocytes
Article Abstract:
Pannus cells appear to have many similarities to fibroblasts and may play a role in cartilage destruction in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Pannus is a specific lesion seen in the joints of people with RA. Researchers took samples of pannus from the knee joints of two women with RA. The pannus cells exhibited many of the characteristics of fibroblasts, including the production of matrix degrading enzymes such as collagenase. They had the ability to form colonies on agar, perhaps because they contained several proto-oncogenes.
Publication Name: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0003-4967
Year: 1997
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
- Abstracts: Selecting a treatment option in subungal haematoma management
- Abstracts: Survival of AIDS patients in the emerging epidemic in Bangkok, Thailand. Impact of HIV on families of HIV-infected women who have recently given birth, Bangkok, Thailand
- Abstracts: Management of myeloma with bisphosphonates. Bisphosphonates in the treatment of bone diseases. Multiple myeloma
- Abstracts: Uncertain value of electronic fetal monitoring in predicting cerebral palsy. Can we prevent cerebral palsy?
- Abstracts: Heterosexual experiences and partnerships of urban, low-income African-American and Hispanic youth. Sexual networks of African-American and Hispanic youth