We assessed age-specific CD4 T-cell counts and their determinants among Tanzanian children born to HIV-infected mothers to address a major research gap. A total of 474 HIV-uninfected and 69 HIV-infected children were followed until age of 12 months. Maternal predictors were measured during pregnancy and child predictors at birth and throughout the follow up. Child CD4 T-cell counts were evaluat...

A randomized, parallel-dose study assessed the pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) of etanercept in 61 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who received doses from 10 mg once-weekly to 50 mg twice-weekly for 4 weeks. Empiric application of a maximal-effect (Emax ) model to pooled steady-state concentrations (Css ) and PD markers provided half-maximal-effect concentration estimate...

Fluorescence polarisation of 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene was used to study the lymphocyte membrane in rheumatoid arthritis. The increase of polarisation value in the patients (n = 27) compared with healthy controls (n = 32) suggests a decrease of membrane fluidity. Moreover, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and plasma fibrinogen concentrations were positively correlated with lymphocyte fl...

The purpose of this paper is to provide a scientific basic for a unified standard for the reference value of middlescent people's erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) in China. ESR measurements for healthy middlescent people were collected according to the Wintrobe method and the relationship between the reference value of middlescent people's ESR and altitude was tested in this paper It was fo...

Clustered occurrences of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) in family have been noticed. We evaluated patients with AS confirmed by the modified New York criteria for familial history of AS (one or more first to third degree relatives). The clinical characteristics and the recurrence risks (number of AS patients/number of familial members) of the familial AS compared to sporadic AS were investigated. ...

OBJECTIVE This longitudinal study aims to determine if statins inhibit the response to rituximab in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. METHODS 41 patients initiating rituximab were included; 17 patients were exposed to the combination of statins and rituximab. The total cholesterol, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and C-reactive protein (CRP) were assessed. The clinical response was ev...

Phenytoin has known immunosuppressive properties, and a recent pilot study has indicated that it may have a second line effect in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). To evaluate this role 60 patients with active RA were randomly allocated to receive either oral phenytoin or intramuscular gold. The two treatment groups were comparable at the outset (Mann-Whitney U test). Twenty four patients completed 24...

The erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) are employed in the evaluation of patients with suspected septic arthritis, osteomyelitis, and acute rheumatic fever. The purpose of this study is to determine if one test has greater sensitivity (rises earlier) than the other. Laboratory data were retrieved for pediatric patients hospitalized with one of the above three cond...

BACKGROUND The Westergren method is the golden standard for measuring erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). All ESR methods should agree with the standardized method of the International Council for Standardization in Hematology (ICSH). Citrate samples are commonly used for ESR. This extra sample adds costs and can be inconvenient for the patient. Therefore, some new automated ESR analyzers use...

OBJECTIVE The Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score (ASDAS) is a composite measure of disease activity in axial spondyloarthritis. The aims of this study were to determine the most appropriate method for calculating the ASDAS using the C-reactive protein (CRP) level when the conventional CRP level was below the limit of detection, to determine how low CRP values obtained by high-sensiti...