background: patients with rheumatoid arthritis (ra) suffer from wide ranges of autoimmune reactions in joints. the mechanism of which is generally unknown and maybe associated with treg deregulation. objective: to compare the frequency of ntregs in peripheral blood of patients with active rheumatoid disease with healthy individuals. methods: twenty five newly diagnosed patients with active ra d...

The relationship between inflammation and insulin resistance is complex and not fully understood. Patients with rheumatoid arthritis are at increased risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease, which is known to be associated with insulin resistance. In the previous issue of Arthritis Research & Therapy, Ormseth and colleagues report the results of an 8-week trial of pioglitazone, an agent c...

AIMS The objective of this study was to investigate whether baseline receptor activator for nuclear factor kappaB ligand (RANKL) and osteoprotegerin (OPG) serum (s) levels can predict the therapeutic response to TNF antagonists (a-TNF). METHODS We studied 75 rheumatoid arthritis patients (81% female) with a longstanding refractory disease. The variables of disease activity, physical function ...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Vitamin D is a steroid hormone with important skeletal and non-skeletal biologic functions. Vitamin D deficiency is common and manifests with musculoskeletal symptoms. In rheumatoid arthritis (RA), vitamin D deficiency may be associated with increased disease activity and disability. We aimed to estimate the relationship between Vitamin D level and disease activity, pa...

Background: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) suffer from wide ranges of autoimmune reactions in joints. The mechanism of which is generally unknown and maybe associated with Treg deregulation. Objective: To compare the frequency of nTregs in peripheral blood of patients with active rheumatoid disease with healthy individuals. Methods: Twenty five newly diagnosed patients with active RA d...

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disorder that affects synovial membrane 14-3-3η (eta) novel protein marker showing potential in predicting radiographic deterioration early and established RA. The goal of this work was to estimate serum level 14-3-3 RA cases its association with disease activity.
 Methods: This study carried out on 50 25 apparently...

OBJECTIVES The 28-joint disease activity score (DAS-28) guides the use of biologics in RA. The aims of this study were to investigate agreement between the ESR- and CRP-based DAS-28 definitions, and to examine how this agreement may be improved. METHODS Data were obtained from registers of early (n = 520) and established RA (n = 364) patients. Agreement over disease activity levels (remission...

AIM The objectives of this study were to examine which factors, according to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) framework contribute to the explanation of activity limitations measured by the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ - model I) and which factors contribute to the explanation of participation restrictions measured by the Social Function Scale...