Previous studies suggest that skin surface cooling (SSC) preserves orthostatic tolerance; however, this hypothesis has not been experimentally tested. Thus the purpose of this project was to identify whether SSC improves orthostatic tolerance in otherwise normothermic individuals. Eight subjects underwent two presyncope limited graded lower-body negative pressure (LBNP) tolerance tests. On diff...

The anatomical relationship between the arcuate eminence (AE) and the superior semicircular canal (SSC) was examined by computed tomography (CT) in 52 petrous bones of 26 patients. After acquiring volume data by multidetector CT, 1-mm thick oblique bone window images perpendicular to the SSC were obtained from the axial images. The distances between the AE and the SSC, and the SSC and the super...

BACKGROUND Microvascular lesions are a predominant feature in systemic sclerosis (SSc) and seem to play a central pathogenetic role. Recently, we graded scleroderma microangiopathy by nailfold videocapillaroscopy (NVC) into three NVC patterns (early, active and late). The aim of the present study was to confirm, in a larger number of SSc patients, the presence of three patterns of microvascular...

Objective—To examine potential interactions between immunoglobulin (Ig)allotype gene polymorphisms and susceptibility to systemic sclerosis (SSc) as well as serological expression in SSc patients. Methods—IgG heavy chain allotypes G1M(f, z), G2M(n+, n-), G3M(b, g) and Ig light chain allotype KM(1, (1, 2), 3) were genotyped in 105 Japanese SSc patients and 47 race matched normal controls using p...

The presence of circulating anti-nuclear antibodies (ANAs) is a hallmark of immune dysregulation in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). Currently, a variety of SSc-specific ANAs, including anticentromere, anti-topoisomerase I, and anti-RNA polymerase III antibodies, have been well characterized, and their commercial kits are available worldwide. Since these autoantibodies are specifically d...

Aim of the study has been to understand the relationship between TH17 and Treg cell subsets in patients affected with systemic sclerosis (SSc). Phenotypes and functions of Th17 and Treg cell subsets were analyzed in a series of 36 SSc patients. Th17 cell concentration in the peripheral blood was found to be increased in SSc patients with respect to healthy controls independently from type or st...

OBJECTIVE To analyse the results of bone densitometry in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc), evaluating the prognostic factors of low bone mineral density (BMD) in fertile and postmenopausal patients, and comparing to a control healthy group. METHODS Cross-sectional study analysing 61 female SSc patients, aged 25 to 51 years, who performed a bone densitometry using dual x-ray absorptiomet...

INTRODUCTION Microvascular damage and defective angiogenesis and vasculogenesis have a major role in the pathogenesis of systemic sclerosis (SSc). Epidermal growth factor-like domain 7 (EGFL7) is a proangiogenic molecule which is predominantly expressed and secreted by endothelial cells and their progenitors and controls vascular development and integrity. In this study, we investigated the pos...

It is well known that microRNAs play a very important role in regulating reprogramming, pluripotency and cell fate decisions. Porcine induced pluripotent stem cells (piPSCs) are now available for studying the pluripotent regulation network in pigs. Two types of piPSCs have been derived from human and mouse embryonic stem cell (ESC) culture conditions: hpiPSCs and mpiPSCs, respectively. The hpiP...

BACKGROUND Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a connective tissue disease characterised by vascular changes and immunologically induced fibrosis of the skin and internal organs. Systemic sclerosis may be associated with both right (RV) and left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction. AIM To analyse RV and LV myocardial diastolic function in patients with SSc and its relation to exercise capacity. ...