OBJECTIVE To determine the diagnostic value of serum and synovial procalcitonin (PCT) for bacterial arthritis and to determine the cellular origin of synovial PCT. METHODS A prospective study enrolled 42 patients with acute arthritis including 11 bacterial arthritis, 18 rheumatoid arthritis and 13 crystal induced arthritis. Diagnostic values of serum and synovial PCT levels were determined by...

OBJECTIVE IL-22 is elevated in patients with inflammatory arthritis and correlates with disease activity. IL-22 deficient mice have reduced incidence of arthritis. Recombinant IL-22 restrains progression of arthritis via increase in IL-10 responses when administered prior to onset of arthritis. These findings imply a possible dual role of IL-22 in inflammatory arthritis depending on the phase o...

Severe destructive Lyme arthritis was detected in the hind paws of hamsters infused with enriched populations of either CD4+ or CD4- T lymphocytes along with macrophages exposed in vitro to formalin-inactivated Borrelia burgdorferi and then infected with the Lyme spirochete. Swelling was detected 4 days after infection, increased rapidly, peaked on day 8 of infection, and gradually decreased. S...

Weight loss is typically found during severe infections, e.g. septic arthritis. The aim of our study was to evaluate the role of leptin, regulator of food intake and energy expenditure, for the development of Staphylococcus aureus-triggered arthritis. Leptin production was found to be decreased during murine S. aureus-induced arthritis. Treatment with recombinant leptin neither restored the bas...

OBJECTIVE The roots of Chlorophytum borivilanum are used in traditional medicine for the treatment of arthritis and inflammation. The aim of the work was to evaluate the anti-inflammatory activity of isolated saponins from Chlorophytum borivilianum (ISCB). METHODS The ISCB was screened using the carrageenan-induced paw edema, histamine-induced paw edema, cotton pellet-induced granuloma, and F...

K/BxN serum can induce arthritis in normal mice because of abundant autoantibodies that trigger an innate inflammatory response in joints. To determine whether IL-17 is involved in the pathogenesis of serum-induced arthritis, we injected wild-type and IL-17-/- mice with K/BxN serum and evaluated them for signs of arthritis. Unlike wild-type mice, IL-17-/- mice did not show any signs of arthriti...

We have studied the effect of the immunosuppressive agent cyclosporin on collagen induced arthritis in mice. Cyclosporin, when given prophylactically, was capable of suppressing the development of collagen induced arthritis and the immunological response to native type II collagen in a dose dependent manner. Furthermore, treatment with cyclosporin, started on the same day as the booster injecti...

T-helper-17 (Th17) cells are implicated in a number of inflammatory disorders including rheumatoid arthritis. Antagonism of Th17 cells is a treatment option for arthritis. Here, we report that Baicalin, a compound isolated from the Chinese herb Huangqin (Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi), relieved ankle swelling and protected the joint against inflammatory destruction in a murine adjuvant-induced...

A 70-year-old female with seronegative rheumatoid arthritis developed interstitial pneumonitis while on chrysotherapy. The reversibility of lung disease and favourable response to steroid treatment support the diagnosis of gold-induced lung disease and distinguish this entity from other forms of interstitial lung disease associated with rheumatoid arthritis. The relevant literature related to g...

INTRODUCTION Phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylcholine-derived metabolites exhibit anti-inflammatory properties in various stress conditions. We hypothesized that dietary phosphatidylcholine may potentially function as an anti-inflammatory substance and may decrease inflammatory activation in a chronic murine model of rheumatoid arthritis (collagen-induced arthritis). METHODS The experiment...