Still's-like disease, breast prosthesis, and collagen implants

Silicone-induced connective tissue disease raises a controversial issue. We report a case of Still's disease associated with silicone and collagen implants that showed improvement on steroids, but remained steroid-dependent despite removal of the silicone implants. This observation complements four previous cases in the literature and questions the role of breast implants in the pathogenesis of Still's disease. The number of cases studied is insufficient for conclusions, but silicone-implant-associated syndrome may be confused with Still's disease. We consequently propose the use of ferritinemia and its serum glycosylated fraction level as discriminating factors. Collagen has been associated with some inflammatory diseases, but never previously with Still's disease. However, considering this observation and previous data in the literature, its role may be postulated as an exacerbating factor or a pathogenic agent.     

Dynamical magnetostructural properties of Anabaena ferredoxin

A mixed quantum/classical investigation of the dynamical magnetostructural properties, that is, "magnetodynamics," of oxidized Anabaena PCC7119 ferredoxin is carried out at room temperature in two distinct conformational states. This protein hosts a [2Fe-2S] cluster in which two iron centers are antiferromagnetically coupled to an overall low-spin electronic ground state that has a genuine multireference character. To study the magnetodynamics of this prosthetic group, an approximate spin projection method is formulated in the framework of density functional theory that allows for multideterminant ab initio molecular dynamics simulations to be carried out efficiently. By using this scheme, the influence of both thermal fluctuations and conformational motion on the structure of the [2Fe-2S] cluster and on the dynamics of the antiferromagnetic coupling constant, J(t), has been investigated. In addition to demonstrating how sensitively the shape of the [2Fe-2S] core itself is affected by hydrogen bonding, the analyses reveal a complex dynamical coupling of J to both local vibrations and large-amplitude motion. It is shown that this interplay can be understood in terms of specific vibrational modes and distinct hydrogen-bonding patterns between the iron-sulfur cluster and the protein backbone, respectively. This implies going beyond the Goodenough-Kanamori rules for angular magnetostructural correlations of oxidized iron-sulfur prosthetic groups.     

Assessment of circulating blood lymphocytes in adult patients on rituximab to treat immune thrombocytopenia: Circulating number of NK cells is associated with the response at 6 months

Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is defined by a low platelet count that can trigger potentially life-threatening haemorrhages. Three-quarters of adult patients exhibit persistent or chronic disease and require second-line treatments. Among these, rituximab, an anti-CD20 antibody, has yielded valuable results, with global responses in 60% of patients at 6 months and complete responses in 30% at 5 years. Factors predictive of response to ITP therapy would help physicians choose optimal treatments. We retrospectively analysed clinical courses, biological markers and blood lymphocyte subset numbers of 72 patients on rituximab to treat persistent/chronic ITP followed-up in our department between 2007 and 2021, divided into three groups according to the platelet count at 6 months: complete, partial or no response. Among all studied parameters, a low number of CD3⁻CD16⁺CD56⁺ circulating NK cells was associated with the complete response to rituximab. We also found that, after rituximab therapy, complete responders exhibited increased NK and decreased activated CD8⁺ T cell percentages. These results emphasize that the role played by NK cells in ITP remains incompletely known but that factors predictive of response to rituximab can be easily derived using blood lymphocyte subset data.     

Living-donor kidney transplantation: comparison of sequential and simultaneous surgical organizations

International Urology and Nephrology - The objective of this study was to compare living-donor kidney transplantation (LDKT) performed either sequentially, in one operating room, leading to...