A case control study of female systemic lupus erythematosus in Japan

In a multi-institutional case-control study, we investigatedrisk factors for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in 151 Japanesewomen treated for SLE during the period September 1988 to August1990. We used two control groups: sisters of SLE patients andsisters of female patients with another disease. Informationwas obtained by a self-administered questionnaire. Our findingssuggest that having a history of operations and blood transfusionsand working in a cold environment may be risk factors for SLE.Viral infections, psychological stress, and pet ownership werenot risk factors for SLE in our study. In addition, smokingwas not protective for SLE. Skin sensitivity to sunlight andcold feet, which may be symptoms of SLE that occurred beforethe diagnosis, were also positively associated with SLE.     

Macrophage-colony stimulating factor (M-CSF) enhances proteinuria and recruitment of macrophages into the glomerulus in experimental murine nephritis

In this study, we examined the effects of macrophage-colony stimulating factor (M-CSF) on glomerular macrophages in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced murine nephritis. Mice injected intraperitoneally with either M-CSF plus LPS, LPS alone, M-CSF alone or saline every day for 8 days were examined for the degree of urine albumin excretion and lymphocyte-function associated antigen-1-positive (LFA-1⁺) cells in peripheral blood as well as renal pathology. From our results, LPS or M-CSF combined with LPS emphasized the degree of proteinuria, glomerular deposition of immunoglobulins and mesangial proliferation, associated with accumulation of macrophages in the glomeruli. However, in immunohistological examination of kidneys from these nephritic mice, neither intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), which may play an important role in the recruitment of macrophages into glomeruli, M-CSF receptor nor the number of LFA-1⁺ cells in peripheral blood was enhanced by M-CSF. On the other hand, M-CSF alone induced neither proteinuria nor any pathological changes and did not increase the number of glomerular Mac-1⁺ cells above that in saline-treated controls. These results indicate that M-CSF does not directly cause glomerulonephritis but might participate in accelerating the glomerular inflammatory process by stimulating a potent chemoattractant to recruit monocytes-macrophages into the glomeruli.     

Increased Natural Killer-Cell Activity is Associated with Infertile Women

PROBLEM: An increase in natural killer (NK)-cell activity has been observed in women with unexplained recurrent miscarriages. Because of the many similarities between infertility and early pregnancy loss patients, we investigated whether infertile women had raised NK-cell activity. METHOD OF STUDY: We tested 94 infertile women who, in spite of treatment, were unable to conceive for 6 or more months. NK-cell activity was measured by using a chromium-51 release cytotoxicity assay. with K562 human myeloid leukemia cells as targets. RESULTS: NK-cell activity of the infertile group (mean +/- SD; 40.2%+/-14.7) was significantly higher than the control group (31.5%+/-11.9, P < 0.0001). The increased NK-cell activity was not associated with age, infertile duration, depression scores, treated hyperprolactinemia, or treated endometriosis. CONCLUSIONS: In certain patients, elevated NK-cell activity may be considered an independent risk factor for infertility.