The pharmacokinetics of droloxifene have been studied in female mice, rats, monkeys, and premenopausal and postmenopausal patients. Droloxifene was rapidly and almost completely absorbed after oral dosing. The bioavailability was 8% in mice, 18% in rats and 11% in monkeys due to extensive first-pass metabolism. Droloxifene is widely distributed as demonstrated by its large volume of distribution and the fact that radioactivity in most tissues and organs was higher than in the blood. After oral dosing, the serum and plasma concentrations of unchanged drug declined with terminal half-lives of 1.6 h in mice, 4.3 h in rats, 10.6 h in monkeys and 25 h in patients. The systemic clearance was in the order of mice > rats > monkeys, and nearly equalled the hepatic blood flow in each species. Most of the 14C from [14C]-droloxifene administered orally and i.v. to rats and monkeys was excreted in the faeces. Droloxifene was metabolized extensively by phase I and phase II metabolism. 3-methoxy-4-hydroxy droloxifene was the major metabolite in rat faeces. The metabolites in rat and monkey faeces were not so different qualitatively. Pharmacokinetic parameters were not significantly different between premenopausal and postmenopausal patients.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Augmented expression of CD44 splice variants in lymphoproliferative disorder of the lacrimal gland in Sjögren's syndrome.

We explored the involvement of CD44 isoforms in lymphoproliferative disorder (LPD) of the lacrimal gland of a Sjögren's syndrome patient with unilateral LPD. The CD44 variant with the v6 exon was selectively detected from infiltrating lymphocytes in the gland with LPD, but not from infiltrating lymphocytes in the normal lacrimal gland, suggesting that the CD44 v6 variant exon may be closely associated with the development of LPD in Sjögren's syndrome.

DNA Primers↗

PubMedDate not supplied

A comparative study between MR sialography and salivary gland scintigraphy in the diagnosis of Sjögren syndrome.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this work was to compare the diagnostic accuracy of MR sialography with that of salivary gland scintigraphy in Sjögren syndrome. METHOD: One hundred thirty patients clinically suspected of having Sjögren syndrome were examined by MR sialography and salivary gland scintigraphy. A labial gland biopsy was performed in all patients. Imaging findings of MR sialography and salivary gland scintigraphy were compared with the results of labial gland biopsy. RESULTS: From the results of labial gland biopsy, the diagnosis of Sjögren syndrome was established in 80 patients. Abnormally high T2 signal intensity areas on MR sialography and decreased uptake and delayed excretion of [(99m)Tc]pertechnetate on salivary gland scintigraphy were well seen in patients with Sjögren syndrome. For the diagnosis of Sjögren syndrome, salivary gland scintigraphy showed higher sensitivity than MR sialography. On the other hand, MR sialography showed higher specificity and positive predictive value (PPV) than salivary gland scintigraphy. Overall diagnostic accuracy was 83% for MR sialography and 72% for salivary gland scintigraphy. CONCLUSION: The high PPV of MR sialography suggests that MR sialography is the preferred imaging modality in patients suspected of having Sjögren syndrome.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Hypergammaglobulinemic purpura in patients with Sjögren's syndrome: a report of nine cases and a review of the Japanese literature.

Nine patients with hypergammaglobulinemic purpura associated with primary Sjögren's syndrome were presented. All patients were female (mean age 45.6) and showed recurrent purpura on the lower extremities and typical findings of Sjögren's syndrome with high gammaglobulin and IgG levels, rheumatoid factors, anti-SSA/SSB antibodies (5/5) and anti-nuclear antibodies (6/9). Vasculitis was seen in 6 patients, 4 were of the mononuclear cell type and 2 of the neutrophilic cell type. Six patients had intermediate complexes between 7S and 19S shown by serum ultracentrifugation. Immunofluorescent staining showed immunoglobulin deposition along the blood vessel walls of the skin in these patients. These data suggest that hypergammaglobulinemic purpura in Sjögren's syndrome is vasculitis caused by immunologic processes.

Adult↗