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Your search keyword '"Joan M. Von Feldt"' showing total 2 results
Start Over Author "Joan M. Von Feldt" Journal arthritis & rheumatism
2 results on '"Joan M. Von Feldt"'

1. Molecular detection of bacterial DNA in venereal-associated arthritis

Author

Joan M. Von Feldt, David B. Weiner, Thomas Kieber-Emmons, Bruce Freundh, Cheng Pei Chang, Rula Bulbul, William V. Williams, Feng Li, Peter E. Callegari, H. Ralph Schumacher, Victor Imonitie, Daniel K. Norden, Bin Wang, and Irving Nachamkin

Subjects
Adult, DNA, Bacterial, Male, Pathology, medicine.medical_specialty, Adolescent, Inflammatory arthritis, Molecular Sequence Data, Immunology, Arthritis, Polymerase Chain Reaction, Ureaplasma, law.invention, Rheumatology, law, Synovial Fluid, medicine, Humans, Immunology and Allergy, Synovial fluid, Pharmacology (medical), Reactive arthritis, Chlamydia, Polymerase chain reaction, DNA Primers, Arthritis, Infectious, Base Sequence, biology, Middle Aged, biology.organism_classification, medicine.disease, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Female, Septic arthritis, Nested polymerase chain reaction
Abstract

Objective. To evaluate the utility of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification in detecting DNA from venereal-associated microorganisms in the synovial fluid of patients with inflammatory arthritis. Methods. Oligonucleotide primers were developed for nested PCR based on Chlamydia, Ureaplasma, and Neisseria DNA sequences. PCR products were detected by gel electrophoresis and dot-blot hybridization. Primers specific for the target bacterial DNA were used to search for bacterial DNA in 61 synovial fluid specimens from patients with inflammatory arthritis, including several clinically associated with venereal infection. Results. Five of the 61 synovial fluid specimens were positive for Neisseria gonorrhoeae DNA. Four of the 5 patients had clinical diagnoses of gonococcal arthritis; the other patient had an unexplained monarthritis. One specimen from a patient with a clinical diagnosis of gonococcal arthritis was negative for N gonorrhoeae. Three of the 61 specimens were positive for Chlamydia DNA. Two were derived from patients with clinical diagnoses of reactive arthritis or Reiter's syndrome, and 1 was from a patient with unexplained monarthritis. One of the 61 specimens was positive for Ureaplasma DNA; this sample was from a patient with a clinical diagnosis of Reiter's syndrome. In an additional patient with Reiter's syndrome, Ureaplasma DNA was also found in prostate biopsy tissue and a urine sample obtained after prostate massage (synovial fluid not available). Conclusion. These data support the classification of these 3 venereal-associated arthritides as infectious processes, and suggest that PCR for bacterial DNA is a useful method for detecting infectious agents in synovial fluid.

Published
1996
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2. Homocysteine levels and disease duration independently correlate with coronary artery calcification in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Author

Joan M. Von Feldt, Lisabeth V. Scalzi, Andrew J. Cucchiara, Suneetha Morthala, Carmel Kealey, Stephanie D. Flagg, Anna Genin, Alison L. Van Dyke, Eleni Nackos, Avantika Chander, Erika Gehrie, Randy Q. Cron, and Alexander S. Whitehead

Subjects
*CORONARY arteries, *ELECTRON beams, *TOMOGRAPHY, *PATIENTS, *HOMOCYSTEINE
Abstract

To compare the incidence and extent of coronary artery calcification (CAC) as measured by electron beam computed tomography (EBCT) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and controls, and to identify variables associated with CAC in patients with SLE.Female patients with SLE and matched controls were recruited; EBCT of the coronary arteries was performed, and laboratory values (including the homocysteine concentration, the lipid level, the high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein [hsCRP] concentration, the glomerular filtration rate [GFR], and the level of soluble CD154 [sCD154]) were determined. For patients, the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics/American College of Rheumatology Damage Index and the SLE Disease Activity Index scores were recorded. Tests of association between the CAC score and the above‐mentioned variables were performed.The incidence of CAC was higher in patients with SLE than in controls (P = 0.009), and patients had a higher mean raw CAC (rCAC) score (87.9 versus 9.6 in controls; P = 0.02). In particular, more CAC‐positive patients than CAC‐positive controls had rCAC scores above the 75th percentile (P = 0.003). Among both patients and controls, those with CAC were ∼10 years older than those without CAC. In addition to age, a significant determinant of positive CAC status in both groups was the number of cardiovascular risk factors. In patients with SLE, CAC was associated with a higher homocysteine concentration, a lower GFR, and longer disease duration. In controls, the total cholesterol level correlated positively with CAC. When multivariate logistic regression methods were applied to candidate explanatory variables, homocysteine concentration, age, and disease duration (but not the levels of sCD154 or hsCRP) contributed significantly to CAC status. The methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T genotype was not a predictor of hyperhomocysteinemia or CAC status.Among patients with SLE, the homocysteine concentration, the GFR, age, and disease duration were associated with CAC. CAC occurred more frequently and was more extensive in patients with SLE than in controls, suggesting that EBCT could be used to detect premature atherosclerosis in the former group. An elevated homocysteine concentration might identify patients with SLE who are likely to have premature atherosclerosis and who would benefit from evaluation of CAC by EBCT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Published
2006
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