To probe proximities between amino acids in the cytoplasmic domain by using mutants containing engineered cysteine pairs, three sets of rhodopsin mutants have been prepared. In the first two sets, a cysteine was placed, one at a time, at positions 311-314 in helix VIII, while the second cysteine was fixed at position 246 (set I) and at position 250 (set II) at the cytoplasmic end of helix VI. I...

1 Guillevin L, Cohen P, Gayraud M, Lhote F, Jarrousse B, Casassus P. Churg-Strauss syndrome. Clinical study and long-term follow-up of 96 patients. Medicine 1999;78:26–37. 2 Val-Bernal JF, Mayorga M, Garcia-Alberdi E, Pozueta JA. Churg-Strauss syndrome and sudden cardiac death. Cardiovasc Pathol 2003;12:94–7. 3 Sable-Fourtassou R, Cohen P, Mahr A et al. Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies and...

Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) have become important diagnostic markers of small vessel vasculitides characterized by focal necrotizing lesions of vessel walls and accumulation of lymphocytes and macrophages around the affected vessels. IgG class ANCA directed to proteinase 3 (PR3) of neutrophils and monocytes seem to be directly involved in the pathophysiology of vascular damage...

Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies-associated vasculitis (AAV) is a well-described cause of multiple organ involvement including rapidly progressive pauci-immune crescentic glomerulonephritis. Kidney transplantation (KTx) is considered the treatment of choice in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) due to AAV. Patient and graft survival in AAV after KTx is favourable and comparable w...

Pachymeningitis is a rare cause of headache characterized by dura mater thickening with various origins. We present a 67-year-old male with cranial and spinal pachymeningitis and MPO-ANCA-associated vasculitis, which is considered as the cause of pachymeningitis of this patient. After revision of other 32 reported cases, our study suggested cranial and spinal pachymeningitis could be a manifest...

Experience with rituximab in patients with new ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) is still very limited, especially in patients with severe (organ- or life-threatening) AAV. Rituximab may be more effective in anti-PR3 AAV, but potentially less effective in some granulomatous manifestations of AAV. We do not know what the response is to rituximab on the tissue level. Rituximab induction needs to b...