Treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was revolutionized during the last decade with the development of new biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) enabling the targeting of immune cells and cytokines other than tumor necrosis factor (TNF). Subcutaneous formulations of the newer biologic DMARDs facilitate not only patients' emancipation from the hospital, but reduce both socie...

BACKGROUND Unfractionated heparin (UFH) has unstable pharmacokinetics and requires close monitoring. The activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) test has been used to monitor UFH therapy for decades in Korea, but its results can be affected by numerous variables. We established an aPTT heparin therapeutic range (HTR) corresponding to therapeutic anti-Xa levels for continuous intravenous UF...

Nucleic acid-based therapy with plasmid DNA (pDNA) and small interfering RNA (siRNA) have received recent attention for their ability to modulate the cellular expression of genes proteins. Polyethylene glycol-modified (PEGylated) cationic nanoparticles been used as non-viral vectors in vivo delivery these nucleic acids. We reported that PEGylated liposomes (PCL) including pDNA or siRNA induce a...

Masugi nephritis was induced in rats by a single intravenous injection of rabbit anti-rat kidney serum, and studied with a scanning electron microscope. A characteristic finding was the presence of white cells, probably polymorphonuclear leukocytes, with many microspikes which penetrated through degenerated glomerular endothelial cells to be in direct contact with the glomerular basement membra...

INTRODUCTION Acute Human Immunodeficiency Virus infection is associated with a range of neurological conditions. Guillain-Barré syndrome is a rare presentation; acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy is the commonest form of Guillain-Barré syndrome. Acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy has occasionally been reported in acute Immunodeficiency Virus infection but little data e...

Anti-melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 (MDA5) antibody-positive amyopathic dermatomyositis (ADM) associated with rapidly progressive interstitial pneumonitis (RPIP) frequently has a poor prognosis and optimal treatment is not well defined. Here, we report a 62-year-old Japanese man with anti-MDA5 antibody-positive ADM associated with RPIP presented with progressive shortness of breath,...

We describe the case of an 85-year-old gentleman admitted with bilateral ptosis and complete bilateral ocular paralysis. Initial differential diagnoses included myasthenia gravis, diabetic cranial neuropathy, an ischaemic event and possible occult neoplasm. Investigations did not support any of the differentials and Miller Fisher syndrome (MFS) was considered. Anti-GQ1b IgG antibody was positiv...

Treatments for anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor encephalitis include immunotherapy with steroids, intravenous immunoglobulin, plasma exchange, or plasmapheresis as first-line treatments, immunotherapy with rituximab or cyclophosphamide as second-line treatments, and tumor removal. In this systematic review, we evaluated previous studies and examined the association between certain micr...

A total of 1,800 blood specimens (1,000 from healthy blood donors, 300 from patients with sexually transmitted diseases, and 500 from intravenous drug users) were simultaneously tested with anti-human immunodeficiency virus enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits and a newly developed 2-min test for anti-human immunodeficiency virus based on the principle of autologous erythrocyte agglut...