Acute hypokalemic paralysis is a rare and potentially fatal condition, with few related causes, one of which highlights distal renal tubular acidosis (dRTA). Distal renal tubular acidosis is a rare complication of several autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjögren's syndrome, and Hashimoto thyroiditis. We report a case of a lupic patient who presented rapidly progressive ...

Patients with clinically well defined keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS) participated in two trials of hypo-osmolar tear substitutes. The trials were double masked, single crossover studies with computer generated random order allocation and were conducted by postal questionnaire. In the first trial a hypo-osmolar formulation using polyvinylpyrrolidone and hydroxyethyl cellulose was compared with...

Sjogren's syndrome (SS) is a chronic autoimmune disorder which is characterized by lymphocyte-mediated destruction of exocrine glands, which produces the classical symptoms of dry eyes and dry mouth, which is referred to as primary SS or the Sicca complex. When it is associated with another autoimmune disease such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus erythematosus, the condition is termed as second...

The autoimmune sialadenitis developed by non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice is considered a suitable model to study the ethiopathogenic mechanisms leading to sicca symptoms in Sjögren's syndrome (SS). Evidence supporting a neural rather than immune origin of the secretory dysfunction has been provided. As both nitric oxide and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) are common messengers to nervous and ...

Sjögren syndrome (SS) is the second most common autoimmune disease, affecting mainly middle-aged women. The disease might occur alone (primary SS) or in association with other autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (secondary SS). The important symptoms of SS, dry mouth (xerostomia) and dry eyes (keratoconjunctivitis sicca), result from lymphocytic infiltration and destruction of the ...

was self limiting in 40-50% of cases. Polyarticular onset and small joint involvement (box) consistently predicted an unfavourable outcome. Full blood count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C reactive protein, and anticyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) (or rheumatoid factor) help in confirming a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis and indicating the likely prognosis. Other antibodies such as...

INTRODUCTION Autoimmune polyglandular syndromes (APS) are constellations of symptoms and signs of multiple glandular insufficiencies. We report a rare case of type III APS in a female patient. CASE REPORT A 51-year-old woman was treated with radiotherapy because of thymus hyperplasia when she was two years old; she was diagnosed with celiac disease and autoimmune hypothyroidism at 41 years ol...

The prevalence of three precipitating antibodies, anti-SS-A anti-SS-B, and rheumatoid arthritis precipitin (RAP), reacting with an extract of the human lymphoid cell line Wil2, was studied in the sicca syndrome, Sjögren's syndrome with rheumatoid arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, various seronegative spondyloarthritides, and organ and nonorgan-specific autoimmune disease. Anti-SS-A and snti-SS-B...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the frequency and characteristics of ocular manifestations in outpatients with systemic sclerosis. METHODS In this cross-sectional study, 45 patients with systemic sclerosis were enrolled. Data regarding demographics, disease duration and subtype, age at diagnosis, nailfold capillaroscopic pattern and autoantibody profile were collected, and a full ophthalmic examination...