OBJECTIVES To determine whether patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) express humoral immunity to the small proteoglycans biglycan and decorin and to compare the response to that of patients suffering from other joint diseases. METHODS Serum and synovial fluid IgG and IgM antibody levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Antibodies to biglycan and decorin as well as to o...

Uveitis occurs among children suffering from juvenile chronic arthropathy (mainly in daughters presenting with the pauciarticular form and accompanied by antinuclear antibodies) and among adults in the group of seronegative spondylarthropathies, among which ankylosing spondylitis and Reiter's syndrome are the most representative diseases. The association between acute anterior uveitis, HLA B27 ...

OBJECTIVE To discuss the relationships between SAPHO (synovitis, acne, pustulosis, hyperostosis and osteitis) syndrome and the group of spondylarthropathies. METHODS Few reports of familial SAPHO have been published. We describe three children, two sisters and one brother, whose clinical and radiological presentation was in accordance with SAPHO syndrome. RESULTS Two children developed psor...

OBJECTIVES Bacteria have long been suggested as aetiological factors in the genetically susceptible host in spondylarthropathies, including ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and reactive arthritis (ReA). Variability of the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) gene has been shown to play a role in the inflammatory response to certain bacterial infections. We investigated whether TLR4 Asp299Gly and Thr399Ile po...

We describe a 49-year-old man with coexistence of ochronosis and B27 positive ankylosing spondylitis. This is the first report documenting the simultaneous occurrence of ochronosis and B27 positive ankylosing spondylitis, with no positive familiar history for seronegative spondylarthropathies. The relations of these rheumatic diseases are discussed.

Identification of several autoantibodies in serum samples from patients with ankylosing spondylitis or suspected ankylosing spondylitis is reported. Five antibodies associated with ankylosing spondylitis were identified by applying cytoimmunofluorescence and immunoblotting techniques to antigen pools from insect tissue. At least one of these antibodies was found in 82% of serum samples from pat...