Proposed mechanism of the inflammatory attacks in familial Mediterranean fever

Article Abstract:

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is an inherited disease, and although it seems to be similar to autoimmune disorders, the precise pathogenesis is not known. Patients with FMF have inflammation involving the synovium of the joints, the pleural cavities encasing the lungs, and the peritoneal cavity surrounding the abdominal organs. Previous research has indicated that normal individuals have a protein in synovial and peritoneal fluid which inhibits the action of C5a, a protein fragment from the complement system. The complement system normally punches deadly holes in the membranes of invading organisms. In addition, the C5a fragment is a potent stimulator of inflammatory reactions. It was hypothesized that if the C5a fragment is normally inhibited in healthy individuals, then some individuals with inflammatory illnesses might be suffering from a deficiency of this C5a inhibitor. To test this notion, C5a inhibitor was measured in both healthy individuals and people with familial Mediterranean fever. The results indicate that patients with FMF have roughly 1 percent of the normal amount of C5a inhibitor in their peritoneal fluid. It is not clear that the deficiency of C5a inhibitor is a direct result of the gene which causes FMF, however, these findings provide a possible mechanism for the observed inflammatory changes occurring in these patients. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Physiological aspects, Development and progression, Inflammation, Complement (Immunology), Familial Mediterranean fever, Periodic disease

---

Changing the Clinical Management of Hereditary Hemochromatosis: Translating Screening and Early Case Detection Strategies Into Clinical Practice

Article Abstract:

dd

United States, Offices & clinics of medical doctors, Physicians & Surgeons, Offices of Physicians (except Mental Health Specialists), Care and treatment, Diagnosis, Education, Physicians, Influence, Medical screening, Health screening, Hemochromatosis

---

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: Management of migraine. Chronic inflammatory bowel disease. Anorexia nervosa complicating inflammatory bowel disease
• Abstracts: Surgical treatment of brain metastases in malignant melanoma. Cardiac metastases
• Abstracts: Advanced maternal age as a risk factor for cesarean delivery. Pre-induction cervical ripening with prostaglandin E2 gel: intracervical versus intravaginal route
• Abstracts: Seizures and other neurologic sequelae of bacterial meningitis in children
• Abstracts: Ultrasound surveillance of the cervix in twin gestations: management of cervical incompetency. Imaging the fetal brain in the second and third trimesters using transvaginal sonography

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.