Scleroderma is a chronic systemic disease of unknown cause, affecting around 15 persons in one million inhabitants in all parts of the world, but most frequently women between 40–60 years of age. Until recently, scleroderma was considered to be a disease with gloomy prognosis and no cure. The general attitude has changed during last decades due to successful treatment of scleroderma renal crisi...

To explore the mechanism of increased collagen synthesis by scleroderma skin fibroblasts in vitro, control and scleroderma fibroblasts were compared in confluent monolayer cultures growth-arrested by serum deprivation; responses to optimal mitogenic doses of platelet-derived growth factor, fibroblast growth factor, epidermal growth factor and nerve growth factor were compared. Platelet-derived ...

We used DNA microarrays representing >12,000 human genes to characterize gene expression patterns in skin biopsies from individuals with a diagnosis of systemic sclerosis with diffuse scleroderma. We found consistent differences in the patterns of gene expression between skin biopsies from individuals with scleroderma and those from normal, unaffected individuals. The biopsies from affected ind...

Scleroderma is progressive autoimmune disease associated with severe disability. The major underlying pathological process in scleroderma is progressive development of fibrous tissue and obliteration of the microvasculature. Currently, there are no medical products for the treatment of scleroderma that provide both sufficient immunosuppression and low-risk side safety profile with negligible si...

Systemic sclerosis (scleroderma) is a rare fetal autoimmune disease of connective tissue leading to skin fibrosis as well as internal organ involvement (1). An annual incidence rate of 2-20 and prevalence rate of 100-300 per million population have been estimated for scleroderma with a mean survival of 12 yr from diagnosis (2-4). Moreover, there is a considerable preponderance of female gender ...

We describe 4 patients with scleroderma in whom a major clinical feature was a deforming, erosive polyarthritis accompanied by positive tests for rheumatoid factor. In all but 1 case the skin involvement preceded joint symptoms, and in some cases there was evidence of systemic involvement. This destructive arthritis may represent the coexistence of 2 diseases or an extreme form of the inflammat...

Several reports have demonstrated associations between scleroderma and cancer and between multiple myeloma and autoimmune diseases. Few papers have also reported the concurrence of scleroderma and multiple myeloma. We report a case of multiple myeloma that developed in a male patient after 28 years of fulfilling a diagnosis of scleroderma. The main presenting feature of multiple myeloma was asc...

Objective(s): This study aims to investigate the pathogenicity and possible mechanisms of S100A9 function in mice models of scleroderma. Materials and Methods: The content of S100A9 in the skin tissues of mice with scleroderma was determined. Different concentrations of bleomycin (BLM) and S100A9 were subcutaneously injected into the backs of mice simultaneously, and then pathological changes i...