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Caspase-1 expression in synovial membrane-like interface tissue (SMLIT) around loosened hip prostheses and osteoarthritic synovial samples was studied. Caspase-1 mRNA was found in SMLIT and synovial tissue. There is no difference in the copy numbers of caspase-1 mRNA between these samples. Both precursor and active forms of caspase-1 proteins appeared in these samples, but the number of positive cells was higher in SMLIT than in synovial tissue. Double labeling revealed that most caspase-1-positive cells were macrophages and fibroblasts. In the lining-like layers and deep stroma of SMLIT, many cells were double positive for active caspase-1 and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β). In contrast, the number of active caspase-1/IL-18 double-positive cells was very low. We conclude that caspase-1 synthesis is increased in SMLIT. Caspase-1 can be involved in implant loosening by processing IL-1β precursor into its mature form, which is a potent osteoclast-activating factor and a major proinflammatory mediator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was carried out to evaluate the progress of physical musculoskeletal ability and pain in Finnish haemophilia A and B patients during a given period of time and to find out the role of rehabilitation and physiotherapy in this process. In the physiotherapy/rehabilitation group, pain index by visual analogue scale (VAS) improved through time by 26%/4.6%. The nontreatment group showed slight aggravation. Regression analysis revealed that age, pain intensity, and functional disability in 1994 were the only significant explanatory factors influencing musculoskeletal functional ability at the end of the study. The current study was not planned as an intervention study and yet the results show some evidence, although not strongly, of the positive effect of physiotherapy and inpatient rehabilitation courses in reducing pain and functional disability for haemophilia patients. One of the important contributions of physiotherapy and rehabilitation is their educational role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The immunomodulatory T4/T8 ratio was studied in the total and activated lymphocyte populations by a method combining visualisation of H-thymidine incorporating blasts with autoradiography (AR) with simultaneous identification of the respective lymphocyte subsets using monoclonal antibodies in avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex (ABC) staining. In rheumatoid arthritis synovial fluid the activated T4/T8 ratio (calculated from T cells in the S phase of the cell cycle) was significantly different from the total T4/T8 ratio (calculated for all the T cells) (0.45±0.05 versus 0.69±0.05, P<0.01). Similarly, the activated and total T4/T8 ratios were also significantly different in the phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cell cultures at days 3 and 5. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two patients with seronegative HLA-B27-connected spondylarthropathy, associated in one case with psoriasis and in the other with Reiter's disease, who had atlanto-axial subluxation (AAS) are reported. The AAS caused muscle weakness and intractable occipito-cervical pain. Both patients were treated operatively with a Gallie type C-C fusion. The symptoms subsided following surgery and the patients remained free of cervical spine discomfort. The report also indicates that the rarer variants of the HLA-B27 associated chronic seronegative spondylarthropathies may cause AAS complicated by neurological symptoms and that the disorder is amenable to surgical intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tritiated-thymidine incorporating cells in synovial tissue samples from ten patients with definite or classic rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were studied by combining two techniques. Tritiated-thymidine-labelled cells were seen in autoradiography and simultaneously the subtype of them was determined with immunoperoxidase staining using monoclonal antibodies. Tritiated-thymidine-labelled cells comprised 0.8±0.4% of all the inflammatory cells in RA synovial membrane. Of all H-thymidine-labelled cells 34±17% were positive for OKT8 and 19±8% for OKT4 monoclonal antibodies. OKM1-positive cells comprised 7±3% of all H-thymidine labelled cells, whereas only a few (3±4%) of them were positive for pan-B monoclonal antibody. This study emphasizes the importance of activated OKT8 lymphocytes in RA synovial membrane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We planned to investigate the expression of protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms in acinar epithelial cells of salivary glands in the non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse to find out if they develop changes of the PKC system like those seen in the human counterpart, i.e. in Sjögren's syndrome. Parotid, submandibular, and sublingual glands from NOD and control BALB/c mice were stained with a panel of monoclonal antibodies directed against conventional (alpha, beta, and gamma), novel (delta, epsilon, and theta), and atypical (lambda and iota) PKC isoforms using the streptavidin/HRP method. Similarly to human labial salivary glands, acinar epithelial cells of the healthy control BALB/c mice contained two of the conventional PKC isoforms, alpha and beta. Acinar and ductal epithelial cells also contained the atypical PKC isoforms lambda and iota. PKC isoforms gamma, delta, epsilon, and theta were not found. NOD mice which displayed focal sialadenitis contained the same conventional and atypical PKC isoforms. The acinar cells in NOD mice, in contrast to the Sjögren's syndrome patients, did not lack PKC alpha or beta. On the contrary, PKC alpha and beta staining was stronger than in the control BALB/c mice. The present results demonstrate that both conventional and atypical PKC isoforms participate in the salivary epithelial cell biology and that there are mouse strain-associated and/or disease state-associated changes in their expression. The lack of PKC alpha and beta isoforms found in Sjögren's syndrome was not reproduced in NOD mice, which discloses one more difference between the human disease and its NOD mouse model.

A simultaneously capturing azo dye method for acid alpha-naphthyl acetate esterase was used to characterize the cellular infiltrate in labial salivary glands in 25 patients with Sjögren's syndrome (SS). There was no significant difference in the T-pattern lymphocyte percentage in situ between the untreated group with SS and the group treated with 10 +/- 2 mg prednisone/day. There was a significant correlation (P less than 0.05) between the T-pattern lymphocyte percentage in situ and the focus-score value. In secondary (2 degrees) SS in cases of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis, respectively, 55% +/- 4% (range 41-69) and 43% +/- 7% (range 15-80) of all inflammatory cells in the periductal lymphocyte-rich infiltrates were T-pattern lymphocytes. In other SS patients the corresponding value was 28% +/- 7% (range 4-50). The T-pattern lymphocyte percentage in situ was dependent on the disorder associated with SS (P = 0.07). The present results indicate the dominance of T-lymphocytes in situ in 2 degrees SS with SLE and suggest that there are differences in cell-mediated immunity in different clinical subgroups of SS.