OBJECTIVE A descriptive study was conducted on patients with uveitis to determine the frequency of associated autoimmune systemic diseases. METHODS 64 patients with uveitis were studied. The patients were not known to have an underlying autoimmune systemic disease prior to the diagnosis of uveitis. All patients had the following immunological tests performed: serum immunoglobulins, complement...

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of the B7/cluster of differentiation (CD)28 signaling pathway on experimental lupus nephritis and examine the molecular mechanism involved by inhibiting the B7/CD28 signaling pathway. A lupus nephritis model in C57BL/6 J mice was induced via intraperitoneal injection of pristane. A recombinant B7‑1 short hairpin RNA (shRNA) lentivirus vec...

Hep2), anti-dsDNA antibody positive (Crithidia assay), anti-Ro-positive antibody and hypocomplementaemia (C3 0.45 g/l, C4 0.17 g/l)]. The patient received prednisolone, azathioprine and hydroxychloroquine. Two years later she developed an infectious meningo-encephalitis, and tragically serious cerebral complications have resulted in the development of a persistent neuro-vegetative state. A 14-y...

Ectopic bone formation after joint replacement or brain injury in humans is a serious complication that causes immobility of joints and severe pain. However, mechanisms underlying such ectopic bone formation are not fully understood. Bone morphogenetic protein (BMPs) are defined as inducers of ectopic bone formation, and they are regulated by several types of inhibitors. ANA is an antiprolifera...

background: antinuclear antibodies (anas) in women with recurrent miscarriage have been reported. the presence of moderate to high titers of these antibodies represents an autoimmune condition that can endanger the health of the fetus in pregnant women. objective: in this study, we evaluated the prevalence of anas in iranian women with a history of two or more unexplained abortion. materials an...

OBJECTIVE To assess patients with SSc who present without circulating ANAs or RP. METHODS Five thousand three hundred and ninety patients who fulfilled the ACR criteria for SSc and were enrolled in the EULAR Scleroderma Trials and Research (EUSTAR) database were screened for the absence of both RP and circulating ANA. To differentiate SSc from its mimics, additional information was gathered u...

Autoimmune responses were assayed in 80 cyclophosphamide-treated and control NZB/NZW mice over a period of 1 year. Fluctuation between positive and negative immunofluorescent heterogeneous ANA tests and daily alterations of ANA titers were detected in young mice of both sexes. Although high-dose cyclophosphamide therapy (8 mg/kg/day) failed to prevent the spontaneous appearance of ANA, titered ...

Over-activation of B7/CD28 co-stimulatory signal is believed to play an important role in promoting hyperfunctional immune response which contributes to autoimmune diseases. In the present study, we generated the recombinant lentivirus transcribing short hairpin RNA (shRNA) specific for mouse B7-2 gene silencing and B7/CD28 signal inhibition to explore and evaluate a potential candidate approac...

Twenty to thirty percent of patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) are positive for antinuclear antibodies (ANAs). In this study we investigated the prevalence of ANA in 100 patients with AD and examined the difference between ANA-positive (ANA+) and ANA-negative (ANA(-)) patients with AD. ANAs were identified with indirect immunofluorescence on Hep-2 cells. Nineteen patients (19%) with AD were f...