Objective To explore the clinical significance of rheumatoid factor (RF) in primary SjSgren's syndrome (pSS).Methods The clinical and laboratory data of 141 cases of hospitalized pSS patients from Wannan Medical College Affiliated Yijishan Hospital from 2006 to 2012 were analyzed retrospectively,and the clinical significance of RF was also analyzed.The data were analyzed using t-test and ~ test respectively.Results The positive rate of RF in pSS was 49％ (63/128),the rate of low-titer positive RF was 32％ (20/63),and the high-titer positive RF was 68％ (43/63).Patients with high-titer positive RF were more prone to suffer from parotidomegaly,arthritis and hematological system involvement.In terms of the results of laboratory examination,the following were more frequent,including positive anti-SSA antibody,the elevated IgG level,the decrease of platelet,the increase of erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and the increase of total globulin level.For the respect of clinical performance and laboratory examination between patients with low-titer positive RF and negative RF,no difference was found statistically.Conclusion pSS patients with high-titer positive RF are prone to have extraglandular organ involvement,and acute-phase reactants and antibody levels are relatively high.

Objective To compare the serum levels of transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta 1,bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)-4 in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and RA with interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD).Methods Twenty-eight RA-ILD patients,32 patients with RA but without ILD and 20 normal controls were enrolled.The RA-ILD group was further divided into early group and late group.All the observed subjects were analyzed using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the determination of serum TGF-β1 and BMP-4 levels.The relationship between the serum levels of TGF-β1,BMP-4 and laboratory examinations were investigated.Comparisions between groups were tested by one-way ANOVA analysis and ttest.Correlation of indexs were observed by Spearman method.Results Patients in the RA-ILD group were older than RA group in disease onset age,in addition,patients with ILD had better joint function and higher serum rheumatoid factor titers.The occurrence time of interstitial lung disease was 2-6 years after the onset of arthritis,with an average time of (3.0±1.2) years.The TGF-β1 levels in the RA-ILD group were slightly higher,but not statistically significant than other groups (P＞0.05).The TGF-β1 serum levels in the early RA-ILD patients were significantly increased than those of the late RA-ILD group and the RA group.BMP-4 levels in patients with RA-ILD group were less than RA without ILD group and healthy control group,and the difference was statistically significant (P＜0.05).BMP-4 level in early RA-ILD group was significantly decreased than those of the late RA-ILD group and RA group.No correlation between the serum BMP-4,TGF-β1 level (P＞0.05) no assay result correlated with laboratory parameters including ESR,CRP,RF and anti-CCP antibodies (P＞0.05).Conclusion TGF-β1 serum levels are increased and BMP-4 levels are decreased in early RA-ILD patients.The serum levels of TGF-β1 and BMP-4 may be indicatior for asymptomatic ILD and reflect disease progression.

Objective: To analyze the clinical features of dyslipidemia in patients with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC). Methods: The clinical and laboratory data of 136 PBC patients in Peking Union Medical College Hospital from 2010 to 2016 were retrospectively analyzed.The liver function was compared between patients with normal and abnormal blood lipids. Results: Among 136 PBC patients, 100(74%)had abnormal serum lipids. The incidence of increased cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein and triglyceride was 61%(59/96), 58%(48/83) and 47%(46/97), respectively; while that of reduced HDL-C was 26%(21/82). The incidences of pruritus [26%(26/100) vs. 8%(3/36), χ²=4.93, P=0.032], serum total bilirubin (TBIL) [17.3(12.2, 28.2) μmol/L vs. 14.5 (9.4, 21.1) μmol/L, Z=2.25, P=0.024], direct bilirubin (DBIL)[5. 5 (3.4, 12.4) μmol/L vs. 4.4(2.9, 7.1) μmol/L, Z=2.00, P=0.045], and glutamyl aminotransferase (GGT)[193.0(64.3, 454.8)U/L vs. 105.5(53.5, 179.5)U/L, Z=2.02, P=0.043], alkaline phosphatase(ALP)[183(86, 351)U/L vs. 135(85, 188) U/L, Z=1.98, P=0.048] in PBC patients with dyslipidemia were significantly higher than thosein patients with normal serum lipids.Pearson regression analysis showed that in PBC patients with dyslipidemia, the ALT was positively corrected with TG and TC(r=0.248 and 0.272, P=0.015 and 0.008); ALB was positively correlated with LDL-C(r=0.335, P=0.002); DBIL was positively corrected with HDL-C(r=0.252, P=0.022); TC was positively correlated with ALP and GGT(r=0.313 and 0.346, P=0.002 and 0.001); GGT was positively correlated with LDL-C(r=0.251, P=0.022). Conslusion Increased TC and LDL-C were more common in PBC patients. PBC patients with dyslipidemia have more severe liver damage than the patients with normal serum lipids.

Objective To investigate the health related quality of life score [primary biliary cholangitis (PBC)-40] in patients with PBC,and the relationship between PBC-40 and clinical presentations.Methods The PBC-40 score and clinical presentations in PBC patients (n=65) were adapted in this study.Patients were divided into the untreated group and the treated group,and the treated group was further divided into ursodesoxycholic acid (UDCA) response group and UDCA non-response group.PBC-40 scores of different groups were analyzed by t-test and the relationship between PBC-40 and clinical presentations were analyzed with Pearson's test.Results Dimensions of PBC-40 scores of this group of patients were as follows:symptoms were (15.8±4.1) points,itch was (4.9±2.8) points,atigue was (23.8±8.9) points,cognitive dysfunction score was (11.4±4.7) points,social activity score was (17.0±7.5) points,and the emotion score was (6.5±3.1) points.The untreated group had higher emotion scores than the treated group (t=2.024,P=0.045).Compared with the UDCA response group,UDCA non-response group had higher scores in cognitive,social and emotion dimension (t =2.126,2.309,2.062,respectively,P=0.039,0.025,0.045,respectively).Itch score was significantly correlated with total bilirubin (TBil),direct bilirubin (DBil),alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and total bile acid (TBA) (r=0.349,0.345,0.324,0.427,respectively,P＜0.01),while the social scores were correlated with TBil,DBil,aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and TBA (r=0.361,0.383,0.316,0.331,P＜0.01) and emotion scores were associated with ALT,TBil,GGT,ALP,AST and TBA (r=0.332,0.430,0.265,0.326,0.297,0.353,P＜0.05).ConclusionPBC-40 can be used as a health-related quality of life assessment for PBC patients inChinese population.Itch,social and emotion dimensions are correlated with clinical activity indicators.Hyperbilirubin,ALP and TBA can predict low health quality of life in PBC patients.Conclusion PBC-40 can be used as a health-related quality of life assessment for PBC patients in Chinese population.Itch,social and emotion dimensions are correlated with clinical activity indicators.Hyperbilirubin,ALP and TBA can predict low health related quality of life in PBC patients.

Objective To investigate the expression of programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) in CD8+ T cells and FoxP3+CD4+ cells in patients with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC).Methods The peripheral blood and clinical data of 69 PBC patients in Peking Union Medical College Hospital and 58 health controls (HC) were collected.They were divided into initial treatment group and follow-up group according to whether they were treated or not.Patients in the treatment group were further divided into the refractory group and stable group according to treatment response.Flow cytometry was used to detect the expression of PD-1 in CDS+T cells and FoxP3+CD4+ cells.T-test and Person correlation analysis were used for data analysis.Results The PD-1 expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of 69 PBC patients (12±9)％ was lower than that of HC (20±12)％ (t=-3.687,P＜0.01).The percentage of PD-1+ in FoxP3+ CD4+T cells was significantly increased in PBC (5.6±3.7)％ than HC (7.4±2.4)％ (t=2.048,P＜0.01).The proportion of CD8+T cells,PD-1 expression in CD8+T cells and the proportion of FoxP3+CD4+ cells weren't correlated with clinical parameters (P＞0.05).There was a negative correlation between the expression of PD-1 cells in FoxP3+CD4+ cells and GLOBE score (r=-0.307,P＜0.05).Conclusion The expression of PD-1 in peripheral CD8+T lymphocytes of PBC patients is lower than that of HC,and decreases more significantly in the refractory group.The expression of PD-1 on FoxP3+CD4+T cells is higher than that in HC,and is negatively correlated with the prognostic GLOBE score.It suggests that PD-1/PD-L1 pathway participates in the immune mechanism of PBC.