OBJECTIVES To evaluate the prevalence and clinical significance of cathepsin G antibodies in patients affected with systemic sclerosis (SSc, scleroderma). METHODS 115 patients affected by SSc, 55 (47,8%) with diffuse scleroderma (dSSc) and 60 (52,2%) with limited scleroderma (lSSc), were tested for cathepsin G antibodies by ELISA method. Moreover these sera were evaluated by indirect immunofl...

961 described in SSc patients with pulmonary fibrosis's or by spontaneous release of interleukin-1 since these alterations may enhance T helper cell function in antibody synthesis. This report emphasizes that antinuclear anti-Scl-70 antibodies may distinguish not only the diffuse cutaneous subset of SSc, but also patients at risk ofdeveloping severe lung disease. REFERENCES 1 Fritzler NJ, Kinse...

Nondigital lower extremity ulcers are a difficult to treat complication of scleroderma, and a significant cause of morbidity. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of nondigital lower extremity ulcers in scleroderma and describe the associations with autoantibodies and genetic prothrombotic states. A cohort of 249 consecutive scleroderma patients seen in the Georgetown Univer...

Nailfold capillary (NC) abnormalities are increasingly utilized in the evaluation of rheumatic conditions. Their presence can distinguish primary Raynaud’s phenomenon from secondary etiologies and used diagnostic criteria scleroderma. Dermoscopy is a convenient method evaluating NC changes with similar efficacy to capillaroscopy. We imaged all ten nailfolds subjects dermatomyositis (DM) using d...

BACKGROUND Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)γ may be a key regulator of connective tissue deposition and remodeling in vivo. PPARγ expression is reduced in dermal fibroblasts isolated from fibrotic areas of scleroderma patients; PPARγ agonists suppress the persistent fibrotic phenotype of this cell type. Previously, we showed that loss of PPARγ expression in fibroblasts resulted...