BACKGROUND The periodontal pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis is hypothesized to be important in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) aetiology by inducing production of anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA). We have shown that ACPA precede RA onset by years, and that anti-P. gingivalis antibody levels are elevated in RA patients. The aim of this study was to investigate whether anti-P. gingivalis a...

OBJECTIVES Cigarette smoking has been shown in European populations to be associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) susceptibility. This study aims to examine the association of smoking with RA in the Han Chinese population. METHODS 718 Han Chinese RA patients and 404 healthy controls were studied. The associations of cigarette smoking (current, former or ever vs. never smokers, and pack-year...

Endocannabinoids (eCBs) inhibit neurotransmitter release throughout the central nervous system. Using the Ceratomandibularis muscle from the lizard Anolis carolinensis we asked whether eCBs play a similar role at the vertebrate neuromuscular junction. We report here that the CB(1) cannabinoid receptor is concentrated on motor terminals and that eCBs mediate the inhibition of neurotransmitter re...

Background In rheumatoid arthritis (RA) around two-thirds of patients are autoantibody-positive for factor, anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA) and/or anti-carbamylated (anti-CarP). The remaining seronegative subgroup RA is clinically heterogeneous and thus far, biomarkers predicting the disease course in these lacking. Therefore, we set out to investigate value a new/different autoant...

Survivin is a biomarker of cancer known for its anti-apoptotic and cell-cycle regulating properties. In the context of non-cancer pathology, high levels of survivin may be measured in blood and synovial fluid of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and associate with early joint damage and poor therapy response. The aim of the study was to investigate the value of survivin measurements in bl...

OBJECTIVE To find out whether a high number of auto-antibodies can increase the probability of a "good-EULAR response" and to identify the possible biomarkers of response in seropositive rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients undergoing the B cell depletion therapy (BCDT). PATIENTS AND METHODS One hundred and thirty-eight patients with long standing RA (LSRA), 75% non or poorly responsive to one ...

OBJECTIVES To increase understanding of the aetiology and pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), genetic and environmental risk factors for RA subsets, defined by the presence or absence of different anticitrullinated protein/peptide antibodies (ACPAs) targeting citrullinated peptides from α-enolase, vimentin, fibrinogen and collagen type II, were investigated. METHODS 1985 patients with ...

OBJECTIVES Our aim was to establish whether alcohol protects against RA development and to determine whether this effect is influenced by alcohol dose, duration and serological status through systematically reviewing the literature and undertaking a meta-analysis. METHODS We searched Medline/EMBASE (1946 to July 2012) using the terms rheumatoid arthritis.mp or arthritis, rheumatoid/ and alcoh...

BACKGROUND Rheumatoid factor (RF), anti-citrullinated peptide antibody (ACPA), C-reactive protein (CRP), and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) have been studied extensively as prognostic markers of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, despite the fact that matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3) is linked to RA activity, few studies have evaluated MMP-3 as prognostic marker. OBJECTIVE To evaluat...

OBJECTIVE To determine the relationship between changes in antibody levels towards citrullinated peptides derived from different candidate autoantigens and therapeutic outcome in early rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS Baseline and 3-month serum samples from 316 patients with early RA enrolled in the Swedish Farmacotherapy (SWEFOT) trial were analysed for antibodies against cyclic citrullina...