Analysis of the effectiveness and safety of rituximab in patients with refractory lupus nephritis: a chart review

Clinical Rheumatology - Lupus nephritis is a life-threatening complication of systemic lupus erythematosus. The standard treatment for this condition, including corticosteroids and...     

Minocycline hypersensitivity syndrome]

BACKGROUND: Drug-induced hypersensitivity syndrome is an uncommon drug reaction typically manifested by severe skin lesions, fever, nodal enlargement, blood eosinophilia and hepatitis. CASE REPORT: A 16-year-old female patient with acne was treated with minocycline 100 mg/d for one month. She developed a hypersensitivity syndrome with a generalized pustulous eruption. Prick tests with minocycline diluted in vaseline were positive at 48 hours. DISCUSSION: This case of minocycline-induced hypersensitivity illustrates that prick tests performed late after the initial event can reproduce the initial lesions. The causal role of several drugs, particularly anticonvulsants, has been demonstrated in drug-induced hypersensitivity syndrome. Several recent publications have implicated minocycline. Although such cases are uncommon, it would appear that cyclines, particularly minocycline, are the main cause of conditions such as drug-induced hypersensitivity syndrome, acute systemic lupus erythematosus, pulmonary eosinophil infiltration, and pseudo-serum sickness. Such secondary effects must be recognized. Patients should be advised to discontinue treatment and consult if signs such as fever, node enlargement, joint pain, or skin reactions reappear. It may be useful to perform prick tests with minocycline 4 to 6 weeks after an initial eruption.     

The INTERPHONE study: design, epidemiological methods, and description of the study population

The very rapid worldwide increase in mobile phone use in the last decade has generated considerable interest in the possible health effects of exposure to radio frequency (RF) fields. A multinational case–control study, INTERPHONE, was set-up to investigate whether mobile phone use increases the risk of cancer and, more specifically, whether the RF fields emitted by mobile phones are carcinogenic. The study focused on tumours arising in the tissues most exposed to RF fields from mobile phones: glioma, meningioma, acoustic neurinoma and parotid gland tumours. In addition to a detailed history of mobile phone use, information was collected on a number of known and potential risk factors for these tumours. The study was conducted in 13 countries. Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and the UK using a common core protocol. This paper describes the study design and methods and the main characteristics of the study population. INTERPHONE is the largest case–control study to date investigating risks related to mobile phone use and to other potential risk factors for the tumours of interest and includes 2,765 glioma, 2,425 meningioma, 1,121 acoustic neurinoma, 109 malignant parotid gland tumour cases and 7,658 controls. Particular attention was paid to estimating the amount and direction of potential recall and participation biases and their impact on the study results. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. Baruch Modan is deceased.     

Transplanted Human Pancreatic Islets After Long‐Term Insulin Independence

Long‐term insulin independence after islets of Langerhans transplantation is rarely achieved. The aims of this study were to identify the histological and immunological features of islets transplanted in a type 1 diabetic patient who died of a cerebral hemorrhage after >13 years insulin independence. Islets were pooled from two donors with respectively one and five HLA mismatches. Insulin‐positive islets were found throughout the right and left liver, and absent in the pancreas. Two‐ and three‐dimensional analysis showed that islets lost their initial rounded and compact morphology, had a mean diameter of 136 μm and were constituted of an unfolded epithelial band of 39.1 μm. Leukocyte phenotyping showed no evidence of a tolerogenic environment in the islet‐containing portal spaces. Finally, HLA typing of microdissected islets showed HLA from the best matched donor in all 23 microdissection samples, compared to 1/23 for the least matched donor. This case report demonstrates that allogeneic islets can survive over 13 years while maintaining insulin independence. Allogeneic islets had unique morphologic features and implanted in the liver regardless of their size. Finally, our results suggest that, in this case, rejection had been prevalent over autoimmunity, although this hypothesis warrants further investigation.     

IgE in lupus pathogenesis: Friends or foes?

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a complex autoimmune disease involving multiple immunological pathways. Recently, several studies have suggested an implication of Immunoglobulin E (IgE) in the pathophysiology of SLE. In the Lyn^?/? and FcγIIB^?/?.Yaa lupus mouse models, autoreactive IgE activate basophils, and promote a Th2 environment with, subsequently, production of autoantibodies by plasma cells. Autoreactive IgE has been also shown to play a role in the activation of human plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs), in synergy with IgG, which results in an increase of interferon-alpha (IFN-α) production. In contrast, a protective effect of total non-autoreactive IgE has also been suggested, through a decreased ability of FcεRI-triggered pDCs to secrete IFN-α. This review summarizes in a comprehensive manner the emerging recent literature in the field, and propose new concepts to reconcile the observations.