Swelling, spondylitis, and spears

Article Abstract:

A medical student recounts his medical and personal experiences while studying arthritis, an inflammatory joint disease, and histocompatibility antigens in Papua, New Guinea. Histocompatibility antigens (HLA), present on all cells with a nucleus, can activate immune or natural defense processes, and are controlled by a specialized set of genes, the major histocompatibility gene complex (MHC). Certain types of HLA may be detected in specific diseases, such as HLA-27 in certain arthritic diseases. In addition, certain HLA are more prevalent in specific races; HLA-B27 occurs in 5 to 14 percent of whites and over 50 percent of the Pawaia, a tribe in Papua, New Guinea. Among whites, the antigen HLA-B27 is closely linked to the inflammatory condition of the spine known as ankylosing spondylitis, but its significance in New Guinea was not known. In 1967, a distinctive type of arthritis was identified among young men in this region. The cause of the disease is not known, and it is characterized by arthritis in the lower limbs. The disease is often diagnosed as Reiter's disease, a syndrome consisting of inflammation of the urethra, joints, and conjunctiva, the membrane lining the eyelids. The objective of the author's study was to investigate the level and nature of arthritis in a discrete community called Karimui in Papua, New Guinea. He also undertook to "tissue type" or determine the HLA in members of this community in order to determine the relation of HLA to arthritis and different population groups. He describes his experiences, but specific results are not presented. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Health aspects, Surveys, HLA antigens, Arthritis, Papua New Guinea, Histocompatibility antigens

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Is there an association between ankylosing spondylitis and multiple sclerosis?

Article Abstract:

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is an inflammation of the vertebrae, the bone segments of the spine, and the large joints, but it may also involve other body tissues, including the heart, lung, and nerves. Recently AS has been associated with multiple sclerosis (MS), an inflammatory disease of the central nervous system in which invading lymphocytes, primarily T cells and macrophages, degrade the fatty sheath called myelin surrounding the nerve. If two disorders are associated, the treatment for one of the disorders may be effective in therapy of the other. Although the direct causes of MS are not known, genetic and environmental factors seem to influence the incidence of MS. Whereas AS mainly affects an enthesis, the place of attachment of a ligament to a bone, or the synovium, the membrane lining the capsule of a joint, MS is a disease of the myelin sheath. The coexistence of AS and MS in one person is reported more in a hospital setting than in a population study, because two diseases may require more clinical care. The link between AS and MS is not known, although studies have shown that persons with both diseases may share in common abnormalities of nerve electrical activity and a genetic element called HLA-B27. Other studies have been unable to show any link between AS and MS. However, fundamental issues such as the direct causes of the disease must first be addressed before an association between AS and MS can be investigated. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Research, Causes of, Multiple sclerosis

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Measurement of synovial lining volume by magnetic resonance imaging of the knee in chronic synovitis

Article Abstract:

Research suggests that an imaging test using magnetic resonance (MR) to measure synovial volume in patients with synovitis provides consistent results. Successive MR image slices were used to calculate synovial volume in 18 patients with synovitis. Variation in repeated measurements done by the same observer was similar to the variation seen when multiple observers measured the same scans. Volume measurements correlated well with physical examination characteristics and were useful when these characteristics were inconclusive.

Usage, Measurement, Physiological aspects, Magnetic resonance imaging, Synovial membranes, Synovial membrane, Synovitis

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