Staphylococcal superantigen-specific IgE antibodies: degree of sensitization and association with severity of asthma.

Objective:: To determine the presence of staphylococcal superantigen-specific IgE antibodies and degree of IgE-mediated sensitization, as well as whether or not those are associated with the severity of asthma in adult patients.

Methods:: This was a cross-sectional study involving outpatients with asthma under treatment at a tertiary care university hospital in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Consecutive patients were divided into two groups according to the severity of asthma based on the Global Initiative for Asthma criteria: mild asthma (MA), comprising patients with mild intermittent or persistent asthma; and moderate or severe asthma (MSA).

Drugs or disease: evaluating salivary function in RA patients.

Oral complications of RA may include temporomandibular joint disorders, mucosa alterations and symptoms of dry mouth. The aim of this study was to evaluate the salivary gland function of subjects with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) comparing it to healthy controls. Subjects with other systemic conditions known to affect salivary functions were excluded.

[Colonoscopic evaluation in patients with ankylosing spondylitis].

Introduction: Patients with ankylosing spondylitis can have intestinal inflammatory lesions, thus the use of colonoscopy for such patients should be defined.

Objectives: To assess the gross intestinal colonoscopic changes and microscopic histopathologic findings of patients with ankylosing spondylitis; to correlate the colonoscopic and histopathologic findings; and to study the relationship of the histopathologic findings with extra-articular manifestations of the disease, HLA-B27, BASFI and BASDAI.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of 22 patients with ankylosing spondylitis.

Evaluation of endothelial function in patients with limited systemic sclerosis by use of brachial artery Doppler ultrasound.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the brachial artery endothelium-dependent and endothelium-independent dilating responses in patients with limited systemic sclerosis (LSSc) with those of healthy subjects of the same gender, age and color.

Methods: Twenty adult, non-obese, non-smoker, non-diabetic, non-dyslipidemic, and non-hypertensive women, who fulfilled the American College of Rheumatology criteria for the diagnosis of SSc, were submitted to right brachial artery Doppler ultrasound. The vasodilating responses were analyzed as follows: the endothelium-dependent dilating response, after a 5-minute ischemia in the right arm; and the endothelium-independent dilating response, after administering 300 mcg of nitroglycerin (NTG) sublingually.

The prevalence of low bone mineral density in Brazilian patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and its relationship with the disease damage index and other associated factors.

The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of osteoporosis, osteopenia, and bone mineral density (BMD) less than the expected range based on age in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in a tropical region of Brazil and the relationship between reduced BMD and several associated factors, especially the SLE disease damage index (SDI). We scored 159 patients with creatinine clearance of 60 mL/min or more for SDI, which was modified by excluding the osteoporosis item. For postmenopausal women and men older than 50 yr, T-scores identified osteopenia (<-1.

Prevalence and factors associated with dyslipoproteinemias in Brazilian systemic lupus erythematosus patients.

To determine the prevalence of dyslipoproteinemias and their related factors in a Brazilian systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) population, fasting lipids were measured in 185 female SLE outpatients. Age, BMI, smoking, post-menopausal status, presence of diabetes and hypertension, SLE duration, number of ARA criteria, drug treatment and disease activity (by SLEDAI) were registered. Statistics included uni and multivariate logistic regression.

[Prevalence of hepatitis C in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus in the Hospital of Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (HUCCF)].

Background: Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are at risk for the acquisition of hepatitis C, owing to frequent hospitalization and hemotransfusion. Many clinical and laboratory manifestations related to auto-immunity are shared between Lupus and HCV infected patients.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of hepatitis C in the population with SLE monitored in the out-patient service of the special programs in--Collagenoses--of the University Hospital Clementino Fraga Filho (HUCFF-UFRJ).