Atsushi Kawakami, Katsumi Eguchi, Naoki Matsuoka, Masahiko Tsuboi,Yojiro Kawabe, Takahiko Aoyagi, and Shigenobu Nagataki 1267

This study investigated the mitogenic and anti-apoptotic effects of TGFβ1 on rheumatoid synovial cells in vitro. TGFβ1 was found to stimulate synovial cell proliferation and inhibit the Fasantigen-mediated apoptotic process of synovial cells, resulting in the perpetuation of synovial hyperplasia in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Cesar Hernandez-Garca, Benjamn Fernandez-Gutierrez, Inmaculada C. Morado, Antonio A. Banares, and Juan A. Jover 1277

This study assessed the ability of synovial fluid T cells to proliferate through 2 different pathways of activation, CD69 and CD28. The results indicate that SF T cells present a profound state of hyporesponsiveness through the CD69 and CD28 costimulatory pathways. This state appears to be dependent on the abnormal activation status of SF T cells, since CD69[minus] and rested SF T cells showed recovery of the ability to proliferate through the CD28 activation pathway.

Kelly L. Summers, John L. O'Donnell, Lisa A. Williams, and Derek N. J. Hart 1287

The CD80/CD86-CD28/CTLA-4 costimulatory pathway appears critical for signaling between dendritic cells and T lymphocytes. The results of this study demonstrate that dendritic cells that are freshly isolated from the synovial fluid of patients with chronic arthritis may be dysfunctional as antigen-presenting cells due to a defect in CD80/CD86 signaling. Manipulating the interaction of these costimulator molecules with their ligands, as performed therapeutically in transplantation and tumor therapy, may be important for both the immunomodulation and future treatment of chronic arthritis.

Denis J. Schrier, Craig M. Flory, Martin Finkel, Susan L. Kuchera, Mark E. Lesch, and Peer B. Jacobson 1292

This study summarizes the pharmacologic effects of manoalide, a standard PLA2 inhibitor, in a model of IL-1-induced arthritis in rabbits. The results suggest that a PLA2 inhibitor may be effective as an antiarthritic agent. Moreover, the rabbit model may be useful for evaluating other substances that require intraarticular administration. This is the first evaluation of a small organic molecule in this model.

Jau-Shyong Deng, Linda Benedict, David H. Deng, Chester V. Oddis, and Jacqueline Fratto 1300

Sera from patients with in vivo speckled antinuclear antibody staining were found to frequently have antinuclear matrix antibodies. These antibodies were predominantly directed against a 36-kd nuclear matrix protein antigen. All patients found to have in vivo ANA staining had mixed connective tissue disease or systemic lupus erythematosus.

Mami Matsumura, Yasuo Ohosone, Kiyomitsu Miyachi, Masashi Akizuki, Yasuo Matsuoka, Shoichiro Irimajiri, Mikio Shimizu, and Tsuneyo Mimori 1308

This is the first report to describe autoantibodies against "naked" tRNAs. These antibodies may be associated with interstitial lung disease, polyarthritis, fever, and Raynaud's phenomenon. In addition to antisynthetases, these antibodies should be considered in patients who have such features or who exhibit a cytoplasmic pattern on antinuclear antibody testing.

Takao Fujii, Tsuneyo Mimori, and Masashi Akizuki 1313

An immunoblot system based on recombinant antigenic proteins was developed both for the detection of autoantibodies to nucleolar transcription factor NOR 90/hUBF (anti-NOR 90) and for the determination of epitope regions on the hUBF molecule. These studies suggested that anti-NOR 90 antibodies were associated with Sjogren's syndrome in Japanese patients and recognized at least 2 separate regions (amino acid regions 89-310 and 310-633) of the hUBF polypeptide.

Florence Prudhommeaux, Corinne Schiltz, Frederic Liote, Ali Hina, Romuald Champy, Barbara Bucki, Esteban Ortiz-Bravo, Alain Meunier, Christian Rey, and Thomas Bardin 1319

This in vivo study demonstrated that the inflammatory properties of various BCP crystals differed and correlated with their physicochemical properties. These results may help in explaining the variable tolerance of crystal deposits in human joints, which may depend on the physical characteristics of the BCP crystals present in these joints.

Paul J. Watson, Laurance D. Hall, Archie Malcolm, and Jenny A. Tyler 1327

This study demonstrates how MRI can be used to visualize pathologic changes to the bony tissues of an intact knee joint and to follow their temporal progression. Although the work is based on images of the guinea pig, this joint disease shares many characteristics with OA in humans, and therefore encourages the belief that equivalent studies of the temporal progression of OA in humans will be possible and will provide clinical insight into the etiology of the arthritides.

Ante Jelaska, Masami Arakawa, Goran Broketa, and Joseph H. Korn 1338

This study is based on the theory of clonal fibroblast selection or activation in systemic sclerosis. The hypothesis is that profibrotic skin fibroblast subpopulations are selectively activated and expanded, leading to increased matrix deposition and skin thickness. Although the exact mechanism involved, and thus the points for therapeutic interventions, are still unclear, the results of this study provide another piece of evidence toward understanding the pathogenesis of systemic sclerosis.

Elena G. Hitraya and Sergio A. Jimenez 1347

These studies demonstrate that transcriptional activity of the promoter of the gene encoding the α1 chain of type I procollagen is increased when transfected into systemic sclerosis fibroblasts. The increased transcriptional activity is further enhanced by the inclusion of nucleotide sequences contained in the first intron of the gene. Identification of the precise mechanisms regulating the transcriptional activity of collagen genes in SSc may provide important clues toward the development of novel therapeutic strategies aimed at the interruption of the abnormal fibrotic process in this disease.

Jerome B. Rattner, Jennifer Rees, Frank C. Arnett, John D. Reveille, Rose Goldstein, and Marvin J. Fritzler 1355

The detection of autoantibodies in human sera provides important diagnostic and prognostic information. Anticentromere antibodies are most commonly associated with the limited form, or CREST variant, of SSc. This study identifies autoantibodies to a new centromere autoantigen, CENP-E, which serve as an additional serologic marker for the limited form of SSc.

Frank C. Arnett, Robert F. Howard, Filemon Tan, Joann M. Moulds, Wilma B. Bias, Egon Durban, H. Daniel Cameron, Gabe Paxton, Trevor J. Hodge, Paul E. Weathers, and John D. Reveille 1362

The highest prevalence of scleroderma yet reported was found in a group of Choctaw Native Americans living in southeastern Oklahoma. A case-control study revealed no apparent predisposing environmental factors; however, a uniquely Amerindian HLA haplotype was strongly associated with the disease. This study demonstrates the importance of genetic factors in susceptibility to scleroderma.

Peter T. Chapman, Francois Jamar, Edward T. M. Keelan, A. Michael Peters, and Dorian O. Haskard 1371

This report discusses the application of a recently described noninvasive imaging technique, using a radiolabeled anti-E-selectin monoclonal antibody, to the study of endothelial activation and hence disease activity in patients with RA. By enhancing the ability to more accurately assess the localization and extent of endothelial activation, this approach should prove clinically useful in the assessment of disease activity in a wide spectrum of inflammatory rheumatic diseases.

Yukiko Ohyama, Seiji Nakamura, Goro Matsuzaki, Masanori Shinohara, Akiko Hiroki, Takao Fujimura, Akira Yamada, Kyogo Itoh, and Kikuo omoto 1376

Cytokine mRNA expression in the labial salivery glands of 15 patients with SS was studied using a PCR-based method. Messenger RNAs of some cytokines, i.e., IL-2, IFNγ, IL-10, IL-6, and TGFβ, were consistently detected in all patients, while other cytokine mRNAs, i.e., IL-4 and IL-5, were detected in some cases, with a strong B cell accumulation in the labial salivery glands. These findings suggest that the pattern of cytokine mRNA expression is closely related to the initiation and progression of the disease process in SS.

Lynne S. Peterson, Tom Mason, Audrey M. Nelson, W. Michael O'Fallon, and Sherine E. Gabriel 1385

This 33-year epidemiologic study of JRA provides data on the long-term outcome of JRA, including both clinical outcomes and disability. In addition, trends in the incidence of this disorder over time are described and used to generate hypotheses regarding its pathogenesis.

Richard Maisiak, Janet Austin, and Louis Heck 1391

This study evaluated the effectiveness of 2 telephone intervention strategies on the health outcomes of patients with rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis, compared with usual clinical care. The study results can assist clinical rheumatologists in deciding whether to adopt such interventions in practice.

Allister Taggart, Philip Gardiner, Frances McEvoy, Robbie Hopkins, and Howard Bird 1400

This 6-month controlled study of 90 patients with ankylosing spondylitis sought to determine which moiety of sulfasalazine, sulfapyridine or 5-aminosalicylic acid, is active in this disease.

Previous work has suggested that sulfapyridine is the active moiety of sulfasalazine in rheumatoid arthritis, and in the present study, it appeared to be active in AS.

Jean C. Gerster, Michel Landry, Bertrand Duvoisin, and Georges Rappoport 1406

Gout patients known to have monosodium urate crystals in the knee underwent CT of the affected knee. Some patients with longstanding disease were found, on CT, to have radiopaque intraarticular deposits that were considered to represent tophi. CT may thus prove useful in assessing the severity of gout and in evaluating the response to antihyperuricemic therapy.