Phytohaemagglutinin-induced lymphocyte transformation was studied in 19 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in relation to disease activity, peripheral blood lymphocyte count, serum iron and folate levels, and corticosteroid treatment. Similar studies were performed on a group of 28 age- and sex-matched controls and on 10 patients with facial palsy who were examined before and afte...

tures and functional outcomes. Lupus 1996; 5: 294-9. 8. MOK CC, LAU CS, CHAN YET, WONG RWS: Acute transverse myelopathy in systemic lupus erythematosus: Clinical presentation, treatment and outcome. J Rheumatol 1998; 25: 467-73. 9. OSAWA H, YAMABE H, KAIZUKA M, et al.: Systemic lupus erythematosus associated with transverse myelitis and parkinsonism symptoms. Lupus 1997; 6: 613-5. 10. BAVILE L,...

A 77-year-old Japanese woman presented to an ophthalmologist with an erythematous swollen upper eyelid and diplopia which was initially diagnosed to be idiopathic dacryoadenitis on the basis of a histological evaluation of an orbital mass that was in remission following a 3.5-month period of systemic corticosteroid therapy. She subsequently developed respiratory symptoms, and was finally diagno...

Few patients with systemic lupus erythematosus have features of verrucous (hypertrophic) lupus erythematosus. A 29-year-old Caucasian woman with a 7-year history of systemic lupus erythematosus developed painful verrucous plaques on the nose. Erythematous, raised, indurated, hyperkeratotic plaques localized on the dorsa of the distal parts of the toes and over the interphalangeal joints of her ...

Superagonistic CD28-specific monoclonal antibodies (CD28SA) are highly effective activators of regulatory T-cells (Treg cells) in rats, but a first-in-man trial of the human CD28SA TGN1412 resulted in an unexpected cytokine release syndrome. Using a novel mouse anti-mouse CD28SA, we re-investigate the relationship between Treg activation and systemic cytokine release. Treg activation by CD28SA ...

IMPORTANCE The main component of the first-line treatment of pemphigus vulgaris is high doses of systemic corticosteroids, but adverse effects of these drugs are frequent and sometimes severe. Rituximab has shown effectiveness as a corticosteroid-sparing agent or in case of relapse. To our knowledge, the effectiveness of rituximab as a first-line treatment without systemic corticosteroids has n...