BACKGROUND Cumulative genetic profiles can help identify individuals at high-risk for developing RA. We examined the impact of 39 validated genetic risk alleles on the risk of RA phenotypes characterized by serologic and erosive status. METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We evaluated single nucleotide polymorphisms at 31 validated RA risk loci and 8 Human Leukocyte Antigen alleles among 542 Caucasian...

OBJECTIVE To compare the diagnostic utility of laboratory variables, including matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3), anticyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP) antibodies, rheumatoid factor (RF), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and C-reactive protein (CRP) in patients with erosive and non-erosive rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS We assembled a training set, consisting of 60 patients with RA...

Population data are presented for erosive arthritis, osteoarthritis, diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH), joint eburnation and dental injury in a fauna from Natural Trap Cave, Wyoming, represented by over thirty thousand bones from twenty-four different species. Erosive arthritis is limited to the bovids, Bison, Ovis and Bootherium. Erosive arthritis is also present in bison from th...

BACKGROUND Dental erosion is the chemical dissolution of tooth structure in the absence of bacteria when the environment is acidic (pH < 4.0). Research indicates that low pH is the primary determinant of a beverage's erosive potential. In addition, citrate chelation of calcium ions may contribute to erosion at higher pH. The authors of this study determined the erosive potential measured by the...

OBJECTIVE To investigate in the general population the clinical impact of erosive OA in interphalangeal joints (IPJs) compared with symptomatic radiographic hand OA and inflammatory arthritis. METHODS Standardized assessments with hand radiographs were performed in participants of two population-based cohorts in North Staffordshire with hand symptoms lasting ≥1 day in the past month. Erosive ...

BACKGROUND Adalimumab blocks the action of tumor necrosis factor-α and reduces disease progression in rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis. The effects of adalimumab in controlling progression of structural damage in erosive hand osteoarthritis (HOA) were assessed. METHODS Sixty patients with erosive HOA on radiology received 40 mg adalimumab or placebo subcutaneously every two weeks ...

BACKGROUND Obesity is correlated with several comorbidities, including gastroesophageal reflux disease. Its main complications are detectable by endoscopy: erosive esophagitis and Barrett's esophagus. AIM To correlate erosive esophagitis and hiatal hernia with the degree of body mass index (BMI). METHOD Was performed a retrospective analysis of 717 preoperative endoscopic reports of bariatr...

Correspondence to Professor Leonardo Punzi; [email protected] Osteoarthritis (OA), a disease that mainly targets cartilage, also affects ligaments, the subchondral bone and synovium, and, according to recent definitions, it is a disease of the joint as an organ. Its most characteristic radiographic features are joint space narrowing, bone sclerosis and osteophytes; bone erosions, and in particu...