Systemic lupus erythematosus and systemic scleroderma are autoimmune diseases thought to have an exogenous trigger. This review summarizes relevant case-control and cohort studies that investigated exogenous sex hormones, silica, silicone, solvents, pesticides, mercuric chloride, and hair dyes as putative risk factors for the development of these diseases. These studies indicate that estrogen r...

BACKGROUND The presence of nail-fold capillary abnormalities may be useful in diagnosing several connective tissue disorders, including scleroderma, dermatomyositis, and mixed connective tissue disease, and in differentiating primary Raynaud phenomenon from Raynaud phenomenon due to scleroderma and mixed connective tissue disease. Capillaroscopy, however, usually requires special equipment and ...

More than 300 sera from patients with a connective tissue disease were analyzed with the immunoblotting technique. The presence of autoantibodies against an 86,000-mol wt marker antigen for diffuse scleroderma (Scl-86) was found in 14 out of 33 patients with scleroderma. The presence of anti-Scl-86 antibodies seemed to correlate with the diagnosis of diffuse scleroderma since they were found in...

background: cardiac involvement in systemic sclerosis (ssc) is more prevalent than previously thought. in this study, the frequency and severity of cardiovascular involvement were assessed in ssc patients referred to firouzgar hospital. methods: fifty-eight patients with ssc, selected from the data bank of ssc patients, were reviewed for the frequency and severity of 8 organ involvements in thi...

systemic sclerosis is a generalized disorder of connective tissue clinically characterized by thickening and fibrosis of the skin and by distinctive forms of involvement of internal organs. one of the hallmarks of systemic sclerosis is the presence of serum autoantibodies against a variety of nuclear and cytoplasmic antigens. the primary purpose of this study was to identify the autoantibodies ...

Commentary Systemic sclerosis is one of the rheumatic diseases that is associated with the worst prognosis. Systemic sclerosis is divided into localized and systemic forms. Localized scleroderma comprises four subtypes, namely morphea, generalized morphea, linear scleroderma and en coup de saber, and is more commonly encountered in children. Although conversion into systemic sclerosis is very u...

OBJECTIVE To determine the effects of increasing concentrations of methotrexate on the proliferation and glycosaminoglycan (GAG) synthesis of cultured dermal fibroblasts from patients with scleroderma. METHODS Cultured dermal fibroblasts from nine patients with scleroderma and nine normal volunteers were grown for 72 hours in media containing various concentrations of methotrexate. The GAG sy...

BACKGROUND Previous reports have suggested that treatment with the selective estrogen antagonist tamoxifen may be effective in diminishing primary and secondary Raynaud's vasospasm, including cases occurring in the setting of scleroderma. Tamoxifen treatment has also been associated with improvement of retroperitoneal fibrosis and desmoid tumors, conditions also associated with abnormal fibrobl...

BACKGROUND Periostin is a novel matricellular protein expressed in many tissues, including bone, periodontal ligament, and skin. Although its expression is prominent in various fibrotic conditions, studies of periostin in localized scleroderma are rare. OBJECTIVE To investigate the expression of periostin and other molecules in localized scleroderma. METHODS A retrospective study of 14 pati...