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Biomedical subjects

J Braun

Publications and source records attributed to J Braun.

643 records · Page 36Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

CD27+ memory and CD27- effector CD8+ T cells are responsible for a decreased production of proinflammatory cytokines in HLA B27-positive subjects.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: AS and other spondyloarthritides (SpA) are mostly chronic inflammatory rheumatic diseases characterised by a strong association with HLA B27. Recent data from our group have suggested that AS patients have a diminished secretion capacity of inflammatory cytokines, possibly associated with HLA B27. The aim of this study was to identify CD4+ and CD8+ T cell subsets responsible for the observed lower cytokine secretion capacity in HLA B27-positives. METHODS: Highly purified (> 98%) CD4+ and CD8+ T cells of HLA B27-positive AS patients (n = 13), healthy HLA B27-positive (n = 7) and -negative controls (n = 9) were stimulated for 6h with PMA/ Ionomycin and, after fixation, stained for surface markers CD45RA and CD27 and cytokines TNFalpha, IFNgamma, IL-4 and IL-10. RESULTS: CD27+ CD45RA- memory CD8+ T cells of HLA B27-positive subjects showed a significantly lower percentage of TNFalpha (median 71.4%) and IFNgamma production (median 69.7%) than HLA B27-negative controls (TNFalpha 85.1%; p < or = 0.027; IFNgamma 82.7%, p < or = 0.026). A similar result was also detected in CD27- CD45RA+ effector CD8+ T cells of which 43.2% produced TNFalpha and 66.3% IFNgamma in HLA B27-positive subjects, respectively, compared to 75.6% TNFalpha and 84.4% IFNgamma producing T cells in HLA B27-negatives (p < or = 0.045 and p < or = 0.062, respectively). For all CD4+ T cell subsets no significant differences between HLA B27-positive and HLA B27-negative donors were observed, regarding neither the frequency of IFNgamma, TNFalpha, IL-4 or IL-10 producers nor the coexpression of IFNgamma and IL-4 in memory subsets. CONCLUSIONS: HLA B27-positive subjects are characterized by a low proinflammatory cytokine production in CD8+ effector and memory T cell subsets. This suggests an influence of HLA B27 on cytokine production in antigen-experienced CD8+ T cells.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Identification of health problems in patients with acute inflammatory arthritis, using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF).

OBJECTIVES: To identify the most common health problems experienced by patients with acute inflammatory arthritis using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), and to provide empirical data for the development of an ICF Core Set for acute inflammatory arthritis. METHODS: Cross-sectional survey of patients with acute inflammatory arthritis of two or more joints requiring admission to an acute hospital. The second level categories of the ICF were used to collect information on patients' health problems. Relative frequencies of impairments, limitations and restrictions in the study population were reported for the ICF components Body Functions, Body Structures, and Activities and Participations. For the component Environmental Factors absolute and relative frequencies of perceived barriers or facilitators were reported. RESULTS: In total, 130 patients were included in the survey. The mean age of the population was 59.9 years (median age 63.0 years), 75% of the patients were female. Most had rheumatoid arthritis (57%) or early inflammatory polyarthritis (22%). Fifty-four second-level ICF categories had a prevalence of 30% or more: 3 (8%) belonged to the component Body Structures and 10 (13%) to the component Body Functions. Most categories were identified in the components Activities and Participation (19; 23%) and Environmental Factors (22; 56%). CONCLUSION: Patients with acute inflammatory arthritis can be well described by ICF categories and components. This study is the first step towards the development of an ICF Core Set for patients with acute inflammatory arthritis.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Remission in ankylosing spondylitis.

Remission is a major goal of medical therapy in chronic disease. Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic inflammatory rheumatic disease that affects the axial skeleton and other body structures, causing pain, stiffness, functional loss, and disability. Until recently only symptomatic therapies were available, and control was poor in patients with severe disease. However, the TNF antagonists have now changed this substantially. The concept of disease remission in AS has not received much attention in the current literature. There exists one set of partial remission criteria formally developed by the ASsessments in Ankylosing Spondylitis (ASAS) working group on the basis of clinical trials with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for use in clinical trials. Furthermore, a state of low disease activity has been defined empirically in studies of anti-tumour necrosis factor (anti-TNF) therapy to describe clinically relevant treatment efficacy. As more effective therapies become available for AS, disease remission is increasingly regarded as an appropriate therapeutic goal that may then be translated into modification of progressive structural damage. There is a need to further define and evaluate current proposals concerning remission in AS.

Antirheumatic Agents↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Flow visualization in an artificial heart using diffuse and planar laser lighting.

The purpose of the study was to characterize flow properties within a clinical pusher plate type artificial heart. Dual camera video tape and synchronized still photographs were used to study flow patterns. Diffused light and a planar laser source provided illumination. The laser light was turned into a plane of light with a thickness varying from 0.1 to 10 mm, and magnesium oxide and Amberlite particles were used as tracers. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed by the examination and digitization of flow patterns. Inflow, outflow, pneumatic drive and after-load pressure, diaphragm motion, cardiac output, and heart rate were measured and recorded. An electrical circuit was developed to synchronize pump diaphragm motion with captured images of flow trajectories. Trajectories were then digitized, and velocities, turbulence, and shear stresses were calculated. As the result of these experiments, disturbed, recirculating, and stagnation zones were identified and global and local turbulence values were determined. Simultaneous turbulence, stasis, recirculation, and laminar flow patterns were observed during most phases of the pumping cycle. Velocities obtained varied from 2 cm/sec to 145 cm/sec; total local shear stresses of 12 to 897 dynes/cm2 were seen.

Blood Flow Velocity↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Reactive arthritis associated bacteria as the etiology of undifferentiated oligoarthritis].

Undifferentiated oligoarthritis (UOA) resembles clinically reactive arthritis (ReA), but does not fulfill the diagnostic criteria. In 46 patients with UOA, in 16 with ReA, and in 15 with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) the humoral and cellular immune response to the ReA-associated bacteria Chlamydia trachomatis, Yersinia enterocolitica, Shigella flexneri, Salmonella enteritidis, Campylobacter jejuni and Borrelia burgdorferi was investigated in paired samples of synovial fluid and peripheral blood. An antigen-specific lymphocyte proliferation in SF was found in 75% of the ReA and in 39% of UOA patients, but in none with RA. Shigella and Chlamydia in ReA and Yersinia and Chlamydia in UOA were the most frequent stimulating antigens. There was a poor correlation between antigen specific lymphocyte proliferation and specific antibodies. We conclude that these bacteria might have a pathogenetic role, not only in ReA, but also in UOA.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Synovial cellular immune response to bacterial pathogens in patients with chronic juvenile arthritis].

Juvenile chronic arthritis is a heterogenous disease with an ill-defined pathogenesis. In our study, synovial fluid (SF) and peripheral blood (PB) of 70 children with oligoarthritis were investigated; bacteria-specific lymphocyte proliferation and antibodies to arthritogenic bacteria were determined. Specific cellular immune responses in SF but not in PB were found in 4/7 patients with either Lyme- or reactive arthritis (60%). In comparison, in subgroup JCA II (n = 45) encompassing mainly elder HLA B27 positive boys, a specific response in SF but again not in PB was detected in 10 children to Yersinia enterocolitica (YE), in four children either to Borrelia burgdorferi (BB) and Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), and in one child to Campylobacter jejuni (CJ). In contrast, in subgroup JCA I (n = 17) encompassing mainly young ANA-positive girls with chronic iridocyclitis, no specific response was found. The correlation of the synovial cellular and the humoral immune responses was 100% in the case of BB and 50% for YE; no antibodies against CT or CJ were detectable. Neither specific cellular nor humoral immune responses were detected against Salmonella or Shigella. We conclude that, in the pathogenesis of some patients with JCA, bacterial microbes have a triggering role. Mainly YE, but also BB and CT are responsible for cases of JCA in which no symptomatic infection preceded.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Three-colour flowcytometric examination of CD4/CD45 subsets reveals no differences in peripheral blood and synovial fluid between patients with reactive arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Reactive arthritis (ReA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are inflammatory joint diseases which differ in several clinical and immunological aspects. In both diseases locally activated T cells are considered important for pathogenesis. Subsets of T cells are demonstrated by staining with monoclonal antibodies recognizing isotypes of the common leukocyte antigen: CD45RA, which is considered to be a marker of native T cells, and CD45RO a marker of primed T cells; a third subset was also identified according to the staining intensity of CD45RB: CD45RBbright and CD45RBdim. The expression of these and the surface markers CD3, CD4, CD8, CD14 and CD56 was studied in synovial fluid (SF) and peripheral blood (PB) of patients with ReA (n = 11), RA (n = 10) and normal controls (n = 10) by three-colour immunocytometry. Significantly more CD45RBbright were found in the PB of patients with ReA (64.1%) and RA (63.5%) than in the SF of ReA (36.8%) and RA (40.6%) patients. However, when analyzed in relation to CD45RO, the CD45RO/CD45RBbright population was not significantly different between the SF and PB of patients with ReA (32.2% vs. 26.8%) and RA (30.6% vs. 28.1%), respectively. Among the three cellular subtypes of CD4+ lymphocytes demonstrated in this study (CD45RA/RBbright, CD45RO/CD45RBbright and CD45RO/CD45RBdim) none, in contrast to previous results of other groups, showed marked differences between ReA and RA in either of the compartments examined.

Adolescent↗