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The antiphospolipid syndrome (APS) is an autoimmune disease characterized by recurrent fetal loss, thrombotic events (arterial or venous) and hemocytopenic disorders associated to high titers of circulating aPL. Two variants of the APS have been described. Primary APS is a clinical entity without evidence of any other autoimmune disease and secondary APS is a clinical disorder mainly associated with Systemic Lupus Erithematosus (SLE). aPL are a widely group of immunoglobulins directed against different components or proteins factors. In 1990 three groups of researchers identified that β(2)GP-I is the mainly antigenic target of aPL in APS patients. There are evidences that show that more than one pathogenic mechanism is involved in the development of the APS. The best documented clinical manifestations associated with the APS are recurrent fetal loss and thrombotic disorders. The latter is based on observations in vivo in animal models and in vitro on the effects caused by aβ(2)GP-I antibodies from patients with APS or from animals which cause experimental APS. The objective of the present paper is to show the pathogenic mechanisms that participate in the development of the APS. We also presented evidence that shows that aβ(2)GP-I induces pro-inflammatory, pro-adhesive and pro-coagulant disorder., (Copyright © 2009 Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.)

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease of multifactorial etiology characterized by inflammation of the joints and presence of autoantibodies directed against multiple autoantigens. Recently the study of the anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACP) has acquired great interest due to its high specificity and sensitivity for diagnosis, in addition to which it has shown to be a predictor of severity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, suggesting an important participation in the pathogenesis of the disease., (Copyright © 2009 Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.)

Urinary analysis is one of the most requested tests in the clinical laboratory. This test includes the physical, chemical and microscopic analysis of urine. This last one allows for the observation of urinary sediment (US) in search of formed elements (cellular cast, leukocytes, etc.), with different diagnostic uses. Urinary analysis can be assessed by manual or automated methods. In the laboratory diagnosis of autoimmune diseases, US analysis is mainly oriented towards the assessment of renal function in patients with lupus nephritis (LN) as this is a common clinical manifestation associated to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Additionally, its value lies mainly for diagnostic criteria and evaluation of kidney injury, as well as for several damage indexes directed to patients with SLE. In the last years, several groups have sought to establish new urinary biomarkers of kidney damage in patients with SLE; however, this requires a greater number of studies to determine their true diagnostic value in this patients group., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.)