Glomerulopathy in patients with dermatomyositis in early active disease: clinical,pathological and capillaroscopic manifestations,and response to treatment

IntroductionIdiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs) are a group of systemic connective tissue diseases that present with muscular and extra-muscular manifestations. There are few reports on kidney involvement, especially in dermatomyositis (DM) patients. We evaluated the clinical, laboratory, capillaroscopy, and kidney pathology of patients with DM, who presented with proteinuria during the first year, and followed them for response to treatment.Material and methodsWe evaluated 205 patients with proximal muscle weakness or high muscle enzymes, who referred to the nailfold capillaroscopy clinic from April 2010 to October 2021. Seventy-four patients fulfilled the New 2017 EULAR/ACR Classification Criteria for adult and juvenile IM with probability of ≥ 90% for DM with duration of ≤ 12 months and proteinuria > 350 mg/24 hours. All manifestations of patients with glomerulopathy and their kidney biopsies were reviewed, and they were followed for their treatment response.ResultsFrom 74 patients with DM, 52 female and 22 male, median age 37 (19–65) years, and disease duration of median 4.5 (1–12) months, 2 (2.7%) patients (25- and 28-year-old male) had proteinuria. Their kidney biopsy showed mesangioproliferative glomerulonephritis (GN). There was no case of acute or chronic kidney damage or rhabdomyolysis. Both had high disease activity, high erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), abnormal capillaroscopy, and high anti-Ro positivity with good early response of their kidney function, muscle weakness, and laboratory tests after immunosuppressive treatment for 3–6 months. One patient had capillaroscopy follow-up, and all abnormalities were resolved in 8 fingers. One patient, due to poor follow-up, after 8 months had recurrence of his disease.ConclusionsWe found mesangioproliferative GN as a rare extra-muscular manifestation in patients with DM in the active and early phase of the disease. Full immunosuppressive treatment showed early complete recovery in these patients.     

Synthesis,Antileishmanial Activity and Molecular Docking Study of New 3,4-Dihydropyrimidinones/Thiones

Pharmaceutical Chemistry Journal - Appearance of drug-unresponsive strains of Leishmania genus and toxic side effects of current chemotherapies necessitate the search for novel antileishmanial...     

Strain-rate-dependent non-linear tensile properties of the superficial zone of articular cartilage

Aim of the study: The tensile properties of articular cartilage play an important role in the compressive behavior and integrity of the tissue. The stress-strain relationship of cartilage in compression was observed previously to depend on the strain-rate. This strain-rate dependence has been thought to originate mainly from fluid pressurization. However, it was not clear to what extent the tensile properties of cartilage contribute to the strain-rate dependence in compressive behavior of cartilage. The aim of the present study was to quantify the strain-rate dependent stress-strain relationship and hysteresis of articular cartilage in tension.

Methods: Uniaxial tensile tests were performed to examine the strain-rate dependent non-linear tensile properties of the superficial zone of bovine knee cartilage. Tensile specimens were oriented in the fiber direction indicated by the India ink method. Seven strain-rates were used in the measurement ranging from 0.1 to 80%/s, which corresponded to nearly static to impact joint loadings.

Results: The experimental data showed substantial strain-rate and strain-magnitude dependent load response: for a given strain-magnitude, the tensile stress could vary by a factor of 1.95 while the modulus by a factor of 1.58 with strain-rate; for a given strain-rate, the modulus at 15% strain could be over four times the initial modulus at no strain. The energy loss in cartilage tension upon unloading exhibited a complex variation with the strain-rate.

Conclusion: The strain-rate dependence of cartilage in tension observed from the present study is relatively weaker than that in compression observed previously, but is considerable to contribute to the strain-rate dependent load response in compression.     

DILI Associated with Skin Reactions

Purpose of Review

Adverse drug reactions (ADR) frequently involve the liver and skin in the form of drug-induced liver injury or cutaneous drug eruption.

Recent Findings

Skin ADR can range from harmless rash to severe skin manifestations such as drug rash with eosinophilia and systemic symptom syndrome (DRESS syndrome), Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS), toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN), and acute generalized exanthematous pustulosis (AGEP), all of which can be associated with severe outcome, including a 30% mortality rate in case of TEN. The association with co-occurring liver injury varies and in DRESS and SJS/TEN can contribute to substantial morbidity and mortality.

Summary

Liver and skin ADR are frequent but rarely severe; however, if severe, they are not uncommonly fatal.

     

Effect of acid and laser etching on shear bond strength of conventional and resin-modified glass-ionomer cements to composite resin

Success in sandwich technique procedures can be achieved through an acceptable bond between the materials. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of 35% phosphoric acid and Er,Cr:YSGG laser on shear bond strength of conventional glass-ionomer cement (GIC) and resin-modified glass-ionomer cement (RMGIC) to composite resin in sandwich technique. Sixty-six specimens were prepared from each type of glass-ionomer cements and divided into three treatment groups as follows: without pretreatment, acid etching by 35% phosphoric acid for 15 s, and 1-W Er,Cr:YSGG laser treatment for 15 s with a 600-μm-diameter tip aligned perpendicular to the target area at a distance of 1 mm from the surface. Energy density of laser irradiation was 17.7 J/cm². Two specimens in each group were prepared for evaluation under a scanning electron microscope (SEM) after surface treatment and the remainder underwent bonding procedure with a bonding agent and composite resin. Then the shear bond strength was measured at a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min. Two-factor analysis of variance and post-hoc Tukey test showed that the cement type, surface treatment method, and the interaction of these two factors significantly affect the shear bond strength between glass-ionomer cements and composite resin (p < 0.05). Surface treatment with phosphoric acid or Er,Cr:YSGG laser increased the shear bond strength of GIC to composite resin; however, in RMGIC only laser etching resulted in significantly higher bond strength. These findings were supported by SEM results. The fracture mode was evaluated under a stereomicroscope at ×20.     

Evaluation of the new chromogenic medium Candida ID 2 for isolation and identification of Candida albicans and other medically important Candida species

The usefulness of Candida ID 2 (CAID2) reformulated medium (bioMérieux, France) has been compared with that of the former Candida ID (CAID; bioMérieux), Albicans ID 2 (ALB2; bioMérieux), and CHROMagar Candida (CAC; Chromagar, France) chromogenic media for the isolation and presumptive identification of clinically relevant yeasts. Three hundred forty-five stock strains from culture collections, and 103 fresh isolates from different clinical specimens were evaluated. CAID2 permitted differentiation based on colony color between Candida albicans (cobalt blue; sensitivity, 91.7%; specificity, 97.2%) and Candida dubliniensis (turquoise blue; sensitivity, 97.9%; specificity, 96.6%). Candida tropicalis gave distinguishable pink-bluish colonies in 97.4% of the strains in CAID2 (sensitivity, 97.4%; specificity, 100%); the same proportion was reached in CAC, where colonies were blue-gray (sensitivity, 97.4%; specificity, 98.7%). CAC and CAID2 showed 100% sensitivity values for the identification of Candida krusei. However, with CAID2, experience is required to differentiate the downy aspect of the white colonies of C. krusei from other white-colony-forming species. The new CAID2 medium is a good candidate to replace CAID and ALB2, and it compares well to CAC for culture and presumptive identification of clinically relevant Candida species. CAID2 showed better results than CAC in some aspects, such as quicker growth and color development of colonies from clinical specimens, detection of mixed cultures, and presumptive differentiation between C. albicans and C. dubliniensis.     

Design principles for self-assembly with short-range interactions

Recent experimental advances have opened up the possibility of equilibrium self-assembly of functionalized nanoblocks with a high degree of controllable specific interactions. Here, we propose design principles for selecting the short-range interactions between self-assembling components to maximize yield. We illustrate the approach with an example from colloidal engineering. We construct an optimal set of local interactions for eight colloidal particles (coated, e.g., with DNA strands) to assemble into a particular polytetrahedral cluster. Maximum yield is attained when the interactions between the colloids follow the design rules: All energetically favorable interactions have the same strength, as do all unfavorable ones, and the number of components and energies fall within the proposed range. In general, it might be necessary to use more component than strictly required for enforcing the ground state configuration. The results motivate design strategies for engineering components that can reliably self-assemble.