INTRODUCTION Proto-oncogene survivin is a member of the inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) family of proteins. The presence of serous antibodies against survivin in patients with systemic sclerosis has been previously reported; however, there are few reports regarding the pathophysiological relationship between survivin and systemic sclerosis. We herein investigated the expression and function of sur...

The alveolar concentration of exhaled nitric oxide (CA,(NO)) is increased in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc), but whether this increase is related to the severity of interstitial lung disease (ILD) in SSc has not yet been investigated. In total, 58 SSc patients prospectively underwent pulmonary function tests (PFTs), echocardiogram and fibrosis scoring on pulmonary computed tomography (C...

AIM We described two case reports of AIH/SSc overlap syndrome and reviewed literatures regarding this issue. BACKGROUND AIH is a chronic hepatitis of unknown aetiology characterized by continuing hepatocellular necrosis and inflammation. AIH overlap syndromes have been reported with other autoimmune diseases. PATIENTS AND METHODS According to the classification criteria for SSc, we conducte...

Scleroderma renal crisis (SRC) is an infrequent complication of a rare disease. To date, many aspects of the pathophysiology of SRC are still mysterious. Since SRC biopsies are not frequently encountered in practice, our understanding of the spectrum of histologic changes is derived from a combination of a limited personal experience and data obtained from several relatively small pathologic st...

BACKGROUND Systemic sclerosis (SSc), a progressive disease characterized by excessive accumulation of connective tissue components. Although most patients have long survival, some of them progress rapidly to death. Pulmonary system involvement and pulmonary hypertension are the most frequent cause of death. When the patient with SSc is to be operated, the anesthetic procedure could be a serious...

Background: Systemic sclerosis ( SSc ), a progressive disease characterized by excessive accumulation of connective tissue components. Although most patients have long survival, some of them progress rapidly to death. Pulmonary system involvement and pulmonary hypertension are the most frequent cause of death. When the patient with SSc is to be operated, the anesthetic procedure could be a seri...

Decreased levels of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) or excess levels of their tissue inhibitors (TIMPs) may contribute to dysregulation of extracellular matrix turnover in systemic sclerosis (SSc). In a cross-sectional study of 106 SSc patients, we measured serum levels of TIMP-4 which is preferentially expressed in cardiovascular structures and searched for correlations with simultaneously pe...

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a complex disease involving multiple genetic factors. A recent genome-wide association study (GWAS) indicated that CD247 was strongly associated with SSc, which was subsequently confirmed in a SSc cohort of European population. However, genetic heterogeneity in different ethnic populations may significantly impact the complex trait of SSc. The studies herein aimed to...

There is growing evidence that Th17/regulatory T (Treg) imbalance associated with the etiology of autoimmune diseases. Heligmosomoides polygyrus (Hp) a natural intestinal parasite mice and has been shown to activate Tregs in host suppress symptoms diseases models. To evaluate involvement Th17/Treg balance pathogenesis systemic sclerosis (SSc), we investigated effect Hp-activated on bleomycin-in...

Growth of fibroblasts from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) has previously been described. The purpose of the present study was to characterise fibroblasts from BALF and bronchial biopsies from SSc patients with alveolitis and from controls, to analyse fibroblast proliferation, migration, stress fibres and proteoglycan production. BALF and bronchial ...