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Biomedical subjects

N Yazawa

Publications and source records attributed to N Yazawa.

45 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1998

High seroprevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in patients with systemic sclerosis: association with esophageal involvement.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence and clinical relevance of Helicobacter pylori infection in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). METHODS: Serum samples were obtained from 124 patients with SSc (67 with limited cutaneous SSc, 57 with diffuse cutaneous SSc). Fifty samples from age and sex matched individuals were used as controls. IgG antibodies to H. pylori infection were measured by ELISA. RESULTS: IgG antibodies to H. pylori were found in 55.6% (69 of 124) of the patients with SSc, significantly more than in the controls. There was a significant correlation of the presence of antibodies to H. pylori with the prevalence of esophageal hypomotility in the patients with SSc (p < 0.02). CONCLUSION: Patients with SSc have H. pylori infection at a higher prevalence than the general population. H. pylori might play a role in the development of esophageal dysfunction in SSc.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Autoantibodies against calpastatin in sera from patients with systemic sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence and clinical correlation of anti-calpastatin antibodies in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). METHODS: Serum samples from patients with limited cutaneous SSc (lSSc; n=36), diffuse cutaneous SSc (dSSc; n=27), and healthy control subjects (n=29) were examined by an ELISA using human recombinant calpastatin as antigens. RESULTS: IgG anti-calpastatin antibodies were positive in 15 (24%) of 63 patients with SSc, which was similar to the frequency of IgM anti-calpastatin antibody positivity (14/63, 22%). The presence of anticentromere antibodies was associated with the presence of IgG and/or IgM anti-calpastatin antibodies. The patients with SSc positive for IgG anti-calpastatin antibodies had significantly higher erythrocyte sedimentation rates (ESR) compared with those negative for IgG anti-calpastatin antibodies. Furthermore, the levels of IgG anti-calpastatin antibodies correlated positively with the levels of ESR. The patients with dSSc positive for IgM anti-calpastatin antibodies had significantly higher frequency of inflammatory joint and muscle involvement compared with those negative for IgM anti-calpastatin antibodies. Four (80%) of 5 patients with dSSc with both joint and muscle involvement produced IgM anti-calpastatin antibodies. CONCLUSION: The presence of anti-calpastatin antibodies may be a clue to mechanisms of the inflammatory change occurring in SSc. Furthermore, the presence of anti-calpastatin antibodies could be a novel and useful serologic tool for recognizing patients with dSSc with inflammatory joint and muscle involvement.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Prevalence and clinical relevance of 52-kDa and 60-kDa Ro/SS-A autoantibodies in Japanese patients with systemic sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of 52-Kda and 60-Kda Ro/SS-A autoantibodies in serum samples from Japanese patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). METHODS: Serum samples from 263 Japanese patients with SSc were examined by double immunodiffusion and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). RESULTS: By double immunodiffusion, 29 serum samples from patients with SSc were found to possess anti-Ro/SS-A antibodies. By ELISA, 31 serum samples were positive for anti-Ro52 and/or anti-Ro60. Of 27 serum samples that were positive by both methods, 15 reacted with both Ro52 and Ro60, five with Ro52 alone, and seven with Ro60 alone. Eleven of 12 patients with both anti-Ro52 and anti-Ro60 and all five patients with anti-Ro52 alone had Sjögren's syndrome, while only one of six patients with anti-Ro60 alone had this disorder. CONCLUSIONS: Anti-Ro52 may be a serological marker for the presence of Sjögren's syndrome in anti-Ro/SS-A-positive patients with SSc.

Antibodies, Antinuclear↗
PubMed1997

Distribution of anti-p80-coilin autoantibody in collagen diseases and various skin diseases.

Anti-p80-coilin antibody produces a unique pattern of immunofluorescence staining called nuclear dots characterized by the presence of up to six discrete nuclear bodies in interphase cell nuclei. The distribution of this antibody and its clinical relevance have not been established. We studied the prevalence of anti-p80-coilin antibody in the sera from 810 patients with collagen diseases and various skin diseases. Five sera showed the nuclear dot pattern by indirect immunofluorescence on an HEp-2 cell substrate, and reacted by immunoblotting with 80-kDa protein in a nuclear extract from HeLa cells. Four of these sera were from patients with localized scleroderma, and the other was from a patient with primary Raynaud's phenomenon. The patients with localized scleroderma who were positive for anti-p80-coilin antibody had all been classified as having linear scleroderma. They had only one or two lesions, and were negative for antihistone and anti-single-stranded DNA antibodies. Our data indicate that anti-p80-coilin antibody is uncommon in skin diseases: however, this antibody is present in patients with a milder form of linear scleroderma, although the incidence of positivity may not be high.

Autoantibodies↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Serum levels of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases in patients with mixed connective tissue disease.

OBJECTIVE: To determine serum tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP)-1 and TIMP-2 levels in patients with mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) and investigate whether these levels were correlated with the clinical or serological features of this disease. METHODS: Serum TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 levels were measured with specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Serum samples from 26 patients with MCTD and 18 healthy individuals were examined. RESULTS; Serum levels of TIMP-1 were significantly higher in patients with MCTD than those in healthy individuals (mean +/- SD: 218.9 +/- 50.8 ng/ml versus 160.0 +/- 38.7 ng/ml, P < 0.0001). MCTD patients with elevated TIMP-1 had esophageal involvement at a significantly higher incidence than those without (77.8% versus 35.3%, p < 0.05). There was no difference in serum TIMP-2 levels between patients with MCTD and healthy controls (75.6 - 11.9 ng/ml versus 77.3 +/- 10.7 ng/ml). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that TIMP-1 is involved in the pathogenesis of MCTD, and that TIMP-1 may be a serological marker for the presence of esophageal involvement in these patients.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Clinical features of patients with systemic sclerosis accompanied by rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence of patients with both systemic sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis (SSc-RA) and the clinical features of those with SSc-RA. METHODS: All 173 patients with systemic sclerosis in our clinic were investigated. RESULTS: Of the 173 patients with systemic sclerosis, 9 (5.2%) developed rheumatoid arthritis (RA). At the first visit, arthritis prior to Raynaud's phenomenon, increased C-reactive protein (CRP), and elevated rheumatoid factor (RF) were seen in patients with SSc-RA at a significantly higher incidence than in those without (44.4% versus 4.8%, p < 0.01; 55.6% versus 13.6%, p < 0.001; 247.2 +/- 312.1 versus 47.9 +/- 54.3 IU/ml, p < 0.001, respectively). Furthermore, in 8 of the 9 patients with SSc-RA, CRP was increased before the diagnosis of RA. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that systemic sclerosis patients with elevated RF and a history of arthralgia prior to Raynaud's phenomenon should be followed up with serial measurements of CRP due to their risk of developing RA.

Adolescent↗