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Contains fulltext : 35996.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) OBJECTIVES: To assess the clinical implications of autoantibodies directed against different parts of the Mi-2 beta autoantigen in patients with myositis. METHODS: A systematic assessment of the clinical, laboratory, and histological characteristics of 48 anti-Mi-2 positive patients from six European centres was made. Anti-Mi-2 autoantibodies were determined with an ELISA using four overlapping fragments spanning the entire amino acid sequence of the autoantigen. Data were compared with results for a large group of anti-Mi-2 negative patients with myositis published previously. RESULTS: Anti-Mi-2 autoantibodies were found in dermatomyositis, polymyositis, and inclusion body myositis. In general, myositis with anti-Mi-2 autoantibodies was characterised by relatively mild disease, sometimes accompanied by extra-muscular symptoms, including arthralgia, arthritis, Raynaud's phenomenon, and interstitial lung disease. Cardiac disease was not seen, and treatment response was fair. No differences were found between patients with autoantibodies to different fragments of the Mi-2 beta antigen, except for a potentially increased risk of cancer in patients with antibodies directed to the N-terminal fragment of the autoantigen. CONCLUSIONS: Anti-Mi-2 autoantibodies are not a marker of a specific subtype of myositis. No significant differences between patients with autoantibodies to different fragments of the Mi-2 beta autoantigen are found, with the possible exception of an increased risk of cancer in patients with antibodies to the N-terminal fragment.

Contains fulltext : 249664.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access)

Objective To study the prognostic value of the antiperinuclear factor (APF), deter-mined by an indirect immunofluorescence test (IIF) and a recently developed anti-citrullinated cyclic pepide (CCP) ELISA, in combination with rheumatoid factor (RF) status in early RA (

Inhibition of translation of several mRNA species in a micrococcal nuclease treated reticulocyte lysate by cap analogues was compared with the competition between two mRNAs. Inhibition characteristics were very similar, only complete mRNA molecules inhibited at concentrations 150 times lower than m7 G5'ppp5'G. The inhibition of mRNA translation by cap analogues could be neutralized by the addition of extra mRNA in a manner predicted from the competitive nature of the inhibition by cap analogues.