BACKGROUND Patients with rheumatoid arthritis or polymyositis treated with methotrexate (MTX) develop Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-positive lymphomas more frequently than patients treated with other, equally immunosuppressive regimens. Here we determined whether MTX, in contrast to other commonly used medications for rheumatoid arthritis or polymyositis, is unique in its ability to induce the relea...

Infective endocarditis triggers the development of multiple immunological reactions, including the formation of autoantibodies. Certain categories of autoantibodies triggered by endocarditis, for example, antineutrophil cytoplamic antibodies (ANCA), may cause secondary diseases that require special diagnostic approaches and at times special interventions. Formation of ANCA secondary to endocard...

A 29-year-old man developed chronic allograft nephropathy 63 months after renal transplantation. He became symptomatic with advanced chronic graft failure; his immunosuppressive medications were reduced and he was commenced on haemodialysis. Two months following the withdrawal of immunosuppression, he presented with abdominal pain, haematuria, and a marked drop in haemoglobin. The patient was t...

BACKGROUND Nivolumab (Opdivo™) is a novel IgG4 subclass programmed death-1 (PD-1) inhibiting antibody that has demonstrated breakthrough-designation anti-tumor activity. To date, clinical trials of nivolumab and other checkpoint inhibitors have generally excluded patients with solid organ transplantation and patients with concurrent immunosuppression. However, organ transplant recipients are at...

Statin-induced necrotizing autoimmune myopathy is an immune-mediated related to the use of statins. It a very rare disease, which usually presents with proximal muscle weakness and frank elevation in creatine kinase levels. Stopping statin immunosuppressive therapy are considered mainstay therapy. Herein, we present case 75-year-old patient statin-induced based on presence weakness, magnetic re...

The severe autoimmune blistering disease pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is most probably mainly due to autoantibodies directed against desmosomal components of the epithelium, disrupting cell-cell adhesion. precise mechanisms underlying development are still unknown, and immunosuppressive medications such as corticosteroids, which linked potentially serious adverse effects, mainstay treatment. Ethnic ...

The history of immunosuppressive drugs is linked to both the evolution of scientific under‐ standing of inflammatory diseases and the development of organ allografts. These drugs are part of a valuable arsenal for the treatment of diseases mediated by the immune system. As medical and public health practices have evolved, infectious processes are no longer the primary diagnostic and therapeutic...

Atherosclerosis, the underlying cause of heart attack and stroke, appears to be an inflammatory disease driven by retention of modified lipoproteins in the artery wall.1 Markers of inflammation, such as high sensitivity C-reactive protein, are independent predictors of cardiovascular (CV) events.2 If atherosclerosis truly is an inflammatory disease, then shouldn’t we be able to identify antiinf...

BACKGROUND Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma occurring in the context of posttransplant immunosuppression is rare, with 27 cases documented to date. OBSERVATIONS We report 2 new cases of posttransplant cutaneous T-cell lymphoma in patients treated at our institution. Both were male recipients of renal transplants who had undergone transplantation a mean of 5.3 years previously and were taking various...

Transplantation of solid organs is the treatment of choice for most patients with end-stage organ diseases. In the absence of pharmacological immunosuppression, recognition of foreign (allogeneic) histocompatibility proteins expressedondonorcellsby therecipient’s immunesystem results in rejection of the transplanted tissue(s). One-year renal transplant survival is now routinely over 90% in most...