The clinical significance of cytoplasmic inclusions(CPI) in synovial fluid(SF) examination was evaluated. We examined SF specimens collected from major rheumatology clinics in the Philadelphia area during the period of January to December 1995. Among 759 patients in the initial study group, 419 cases with established diagnoses and full synovial analyses were included. Their diagnoses and SF analysis results including leukocyte counts, differential counts and wet preparations were collected and analysed. Ninety seven of the 419 SF specimens were found to have CPI. CPI were found in SF from almost all rheumatic diseases. They were most likely to be found in inflammatory arthropathy including rheumatoid arthritis(RA, 46%), juvenile rheumatoid arthritis(JRA, 78%) and psoriatic arthritis(55%). On the contrary, CPI were least common in crystal-induced arthropathy among the inflammatory arthropathy. CPI were found 8 out of 98 gout cases(8%) and 2 among 53 calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate(CPPD) deposition disease(4%). In noninflammatory arthropathy, CPI were found in only 6 cases(6%) out of the 103 osteoarthritis(OA). In RA cases with non-inflammatory SF, 4 of the 20 SF(20%) had CPI while only 6% of OA SF had CPI. OA SF with CPI were all noninflammatory SF. In summary, CPI were a common finding on SF examination. CPI were more likely to be found in inflammatory arthropathy than noninflammatory. Among inflammatory arthropathy, CPI can favor non-crystal arthropathy than crystal arthropathy. Awareness of the presence of CPI is suggested as an addendum to routine SF analysis. Renewed investigation of the several types of CPI may add further to the understanding of joint disease.
Inclusion Bodies/*pathology ; Rheumatic Diseases/*physiopathology ; Synovial Fluid/*cytology

The aim of our study was to develop a Korean rheumatic diseases-screening questionnaire. The questionnaire was constructed based on American College of Rheumatology criteria for rheumatic diseases and a connective tissue diseases screening questionnaire. Two groups of patients were selected and completed the questionnaire: (i) those with osteoarthritis (n=46), rheumatoid arthritis (n=52), systemic lupus erythematosus (n=50), scleroderma (n=8), polymyositis or dermatomyositis (n=7), Sjogren's disease (n=4), and mixed connective-tissue disease (n=9) as case subjects; and (ii) those with fibromyalgia (n=8) and general disease without evidence of any rheumatic disease (n=72) as controls. Laboratory results were analyzed for correlation with actual data using kappa (kappa) statistics. Test-retest reliability was performed in 12 patients, and showed strong agreement between the first and second interviews (kappa=0.91). The sensitivity of the questionnaire ranged from 77.8 to 100%, and specificity ranged from 68.8 to 95.0%. Negative predictive values were very high in the general population, from 98.4 to 99.99%. The kappa statistic for agreement between laboratory items was 0.22-0.56, except for rheumatoid factor, antinuclear antibody test, and muscle enzyme level. We have developed a simple and sensitive Korean rheumatic diseases-screening questionnaire for the epidemiologic study of rheumatic diseases in Korea.
Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Human ; Korea/epidemiology ; Male ; Mass Screening* ; Middle Aged ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Questionnaires* ; Reproducibility of Results ; Rheumatic Diseases/diagnosis ; Rheumatic Diseases/epidemiology* ; Rheumatic Diseases/physiopathology

OBJECTIVETo establish the migraine rheumatism stasis syndrome animal model.

METHODThe rat migraine rheumatism stasis syndrome animal model was established through rheumatism stimulation with manual climate box, 5-HT reduction caused by reserpine and local cerebral vasospasm. General vital signs (activity, weight, eye gum, hair, feeding, excrement), head scratch frequency and image collection were observed to analyze the changes in biological signs of stasis syndrome (tongue image RGB), thrombin and serotonin of model rats.

RESULTThe reserpine group and the reserpine plus rheumatism model group showed significant reduction in blood coagulation time, pain threshold and 5-HT content in blood and brain (P < 0.01); the reserpine plus rheumatism model group showed an increase in eye gum and decreases in activity, feeding, with thin sloppy stool. According to the tough RGB values, the control group showed light red toughs, the reserpine group showed dark purple toughs, the reserpine plus rheumatism model group showed gray toughs, with notable differences in tough RGB values in all three group.

CONCLUSIONThe rheumatism stimulation with manual climate box, 5-HT reduction caused by reserpine and local cerebral vasospasm can be used to induce the migraine rheumatism stasis syndrome animal model, but its modeling assessment method and process shall be further improved.

Animals ; Blood Circulation ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Disease Models, Animal ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Migraine Disorders ; diagnosis ; physiopathology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Rheumatic Diseases ; diagnosis ; physiopathology

Antibodies, Antineutrophil Cytoplasmic ; analysis ; immunology ; Antibodies, Antinuclear ; analysis ; immunology ; Antigens, Nuclear ; immunology ; Arthritis, Juvenile ; immunology ; Autoantibodies ; analysis ; immunology ; Humans ; Monitoring, Physiologic ; methods ; Nucleosomes ; immunology ; Phospholipids ; immunology ; Rheumatic Diseases ; immunology ; physiopathology

The complex interaction of molecules within a biological system constitutes a functional module. These modules are then acted upon by both internal and external factors, such as genetic and environmental stresses, which under certain conditions can manifest as complex disease phenotypes. Recent advances in high-throughput biological analyses, in combination with improved computational methods for data enrichment, functional annotation, and network visualization, have enabled a much deeper understanding of the mechanisms underlying important biological processes by identifying functional modules that are temporally and spatially perturbed in the context of disease development. Systems biology approaches such as these have produced compelling observations that would be impossible to replicate using classical methodologies, with greater insights expected as both the technology and methods improve in the coming years. Here, we examine the use of systems biology and network analysis in the study of a wide range of rheumatic diseases to better understand the underlying molecular and clinical features.
Animals ; Antirheumatic Agents/therapeutic use ; Biomedical Research/*methods ; Cytokines/genetics/metabolism ; Genetic Markers ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Humans ; Inflammation Mediators/metabolism ; Molecular Targeted Therapy ; Phenotype ; Prognosis ; *Rheumatic Diseases/drug therapy/genetics/metabolism/physiopathology ; Rheumatology/*methods ; Risk Factors ; Signal Transduction ; *Systems Biology ; Systems Integration