Semantic evaluation of some of the terms we regularly employ--inflammation, anti-inflammatory, pro-inflammatory, anti-inflammatory drugs, cytokines, homeostasis and stress--raises concerns about their precise meanings and about their mechanistic implications. Semantic imprecision may have undesirable conceptual consequences.

Animals↗

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The acute phase response: from Hippocrates to cytokine biology.

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Acute-Phase Proteins↗

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Association of HLA-A2 with uveitis in HLA-B27 positive patients with ankylosing spondylitis.

We studied 175 consecutive patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) to define the genetic characteristics of those patients who had associated acute anterior uveitis (AAU). The first 131 patients were tested for HLA antigens of the A and B loci, and the remaining 44 patients were typed only for HLA-B27. AAU was significantly more common in B27 positive patients, occurring in 40 of 144 B27 positive (27.7%) and in only 3 of 31 B27 negative patients (9.7%) (p less than 0.05). Among the B27 positive AS patients, AAU occurred in 24 of 68 patients (35%) who also possessed HLA-A2 and in only 5 of 35 patients (14%) who lacked A2 (p less than 0.025). An independent association of AAU with A2 could not be shown. In the absence of evidence of linkage disequilibrium between A2 and B27 in the general population, the data suggest that the presence of A2 in B27 positive AS patients enhances the risk of AAU above that associated with B27 alone, and that other MHC-linked genetic factors, in addition to B27, are associated with susceptibility to AAU in AS patients.

Black People↗

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Survival among patients with ankylosing spondylitis: a life-table analysis.

A life-table analysis of survival was performed retrospectively on 56 white patients (49 males) with ankylosing spondylitis. The disease was diagnosed in these patients between 1934 and 1960 at a mean age of 35.2 yr. Patients were followed until December, 1975, a mean duration of 22 yr. The expected survival was calculated from life-tables for the United States population matched for sex, age, race, geographic area, and calendar year. For the first 10 yr of follow-up, there was no difference in the observed and expected survival. By 20 yr after diagnosis, 37 patients were observed to have survived whereas 46 were expected (p = 0.001). By 40 years after diagnosis, 16 were observed to have survived and 21 were expected (p = 0.063).

Actuarial Analysis↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Genetic heterogeneity in primary ankylosing spondylitis.

We studied 115 white patients suffering from primary ankylosing spondylitis (AS). HLA-B27 was present in 105 patients (92%) and 8% of controls (pc < 0.001). Four of the 10 B27 negative patients were noted to possess HLA-Bw16 (40%), compared to 3.09% of 444 B27 negative controls (pc < 0.014). These findings suggest the existence of genetic heterogeneity in primary AS. Moreover, since Bw16 is also known to be associated with psoriasis and enteropathic spondylitis, our data support the clinical suggestion that disease-susceptibility alleles for psoriasis and for chronic inflammatory bowel diseases may be important in the development of primary AS as well, even in the absence of HLA-B27.

Adult↗