Fine structure of neutrophils from turpentine-induced pleuritis in mice, simulating rheumatoid arthritis cells.

Pleural effusions were made by intrapleural turpentine installation in mice. The fine structure of inflammatory cells from the effusions was normal except for lipid inclusions. The same type of inclusion was previously found in neutrophils from pleural effusions in patients with tuberculous infection, rheumatoid disease, or carcinomatosis. The lipid inclusions observed in neutrophils from an irritative turpentine-induced pleurisy should be considered as "fatty change", and are structurally similar to the rheumatoid arthritis cells seen in patients with different diseases.     

Long-term risk of adverse cardiovascular outcomes associated with cutaneous lupus erythematosus: a nationwide cohort study

Clinical Rheumatology - Autoimmune diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus, have been associated with a substantial risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. However, data on the...     

A prospective evaluation of the clinical value of nation-wide DNA fingerprinting of tuberculosis isolates in Denmark.

SETTING: Denmark, a country with a low incidence of tuberculosis (TB). OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the value of the nation-wide DNA fingerprinting of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates performed in Denmark since 1992. DESIGN: Prospective study of consecutive patients with culture-verified TB from five large TB Departments in Denmark during a 7-month period in 1998. Results of IS6110 RFLP and spoligotyping were compared to those in the nation-wide Danish DNA-fingerprint database which covers approximately 95% of all culture-verified TB cases from 1992 onwards. Questionnaires asking about contact tracing and epidemiological links were sent to the patients' treating physicians. RESULTS: Of the 177 patients included in the study, 57 were Danes, one was from Iceland, 111 were immigrants, and eight were from Greenland. Responses to the questionnaires were obtained from 163 patients (92%). Four cases of unsuspected transmission were detected: one of nosocomial spread of TB, one of occupational acquisition of TB and two of transmission in an international school, leading to further contact tracing among 75 schoolchildren. These four cases were all the result of short-term contacts. In 22 cases, contact with one or more TB patient(s) was reported. In six of these, the DNA-fingerprint result revealed that the presumed contact could not be the source of infection, even though in two of the cases the known TB contact was from the household. CONCLUSION: Nation-wide DNA fingerprinting of TB isolates provides information that could not have been obtained otherwise, and contribute to the understanding of TB transmission in Danish society. In some cases the results lead to further contact tracing. Short-term contact can apparently result in transmission of TB.     

The osteoporotic pain experience

Osteoporosis, a disease characterized by skeletal fragility, represents a major health problem, especially for postmenopausal women. This project is a pilot study exploring the female osteoporotic patient's understanding of her individual pain condition and investigating the potential of a structured nursing program, called the Osteoporotic Pain Program (OPP), to increase the patient's insight, skills and motivation to self help, and possibly reduce pain. Findings in other studies and the expertise of experienced clinical nurses formed the basis for the OPP, which consists of three elements: conversations between nurse and patient, pain curves, and body charts. Qualitative interviews, using a semi-structured guide, were conducted to explore the meaning of the program as seen from the perspective of the patients. Participating in the OPP proved meaningful to patients in two major ways, actively exploring one's pain and feeling empowered. The analysis lead to forming a main category, "Exploring the chronic pain situation", and five subcategories were identified: expressing one's pain, understanding one's pain, justifying one's pain, accepting medication, and entering a ready-to-act mode. Findings indicate that the OPP contributes to challenging the patients. Their self-efficacy increases, their actions change, and pain intensity appears to decrease.     

Durability of the sun protection factor provided by dihydroxyacetone

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: The sunless tanning agent dihydroxyacetone (DHA) is known to protect against longwave ultraviolet radiation (UVA) and visible light. Recently, our laboratory has shown that DHA in addition offers a modest sun protection factor (SPF) in humans. We conducted this study in order to investigate the durability of the SPF provided by DHA. METHODS: Ten healthy volunteers were treated with 20% DHA cream twice in three areas on the volar forearm. One, 5 and 7 days after the second application the participants were phototested with simulated sunlight in each area. Blue reflectance was used to measure the skin coloration by DHA in the test sites. RESULTS: DHA generated a significant SPF of 3.0 at day 1, 2.0 at day 5 and 1.7 at day 7 (P<0.0001). The SPF was positively correlated to the change in blue reflectance (r=0.39, P=0.034). The loss of SPF unit/day was not significantly different between the subjects (P<0.122). However, the intercepts were significantly different (P<0.0001) indicating differences in the initial SPF obtained among the subjects. CONCLUSIONS: The SPF of DHA decreases with the same loss of SPF unit/day between humans and the durability of the SPF thus depends on the initial SPF provided.     

Rheumatoid arthritis cells and biochemical changes in turpentine-induced pleuritis in rabbits

When turpentine was instilled into the right pleural cavity in rabbits a pleural effusion developed in half of the animals, with a low pH, low glucose concentration, high lactic dehydrogenase activity and the constant presence of rheumatoid arthritis cells in the affected pleural cavity. The biochemical values in the pleural fluid were significantly different from the values for normal pleural fluid obtained by a special microtechnique. These changes resulting from the experimentally induced, simple, irritative turpentine pleuritis are similar to the findings in the pleural effusion in human rheumatoid pleuritis; this implies that such changes are probably non-specific and without evidence of an immunological background.