Search

Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs) are rare autoimmune disorders affecting primarily muscles, but other organs can be involved. This review describes the clinical features, diagnosis and treatment for IIMs, namely polymyositis (PM), dermatomyositis (DM), sporadic inclusion body myositis (sIBM), immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy (IMNM), and myositis associated with antisynthetase syndrome (ASS). The diagnostic approach has been updated recently based on the discovery of circulating autoantibodies, which has enhanced the management of patients. Currently, validated classification criteria for IIMs allow clinical studies with well-defined sets of patients but diagnostic criteria to guide the care of individual patients in routine clinical practice are still missing. This review analyzes the clinical manifestations and laboratory findings of IIMs, discusses the efficiency of modern and standard methods employed in their workup, and delineates optimal practice for clinical care. Α multidisciplinary diagnostic approach that combines clinical, neurologic and rheumatologic examination, evaluation of electrophysiologic and morphologic muscle characteristics, and assessment of autoantibody immunoassays has been determined to be the preferred approach for effective management of patients with suspected IIMs.

The aim of this study was to investigate the cytotoxic effect cisplatin in combination with epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) on leiomyosarcoma cells (LMS cells) in order to identify a less toxic but equally effective alternative. Assays for cell proliferation, colony formation efficiency, induction of apoptosis and cell cycle arrest were performed using the IC50 of cisplatin (8.6 μΜ) as a reference value and a concentration of EGCG (30 μΜ) that caused a non-significant reduction in cell proliferation. Pre-treatment of cells with EGCG for 24 h before the addition of cisplatin increased cytotoxicity up to 8.5% (p

Objectives The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of catechin and epicatechin on the activity of the endogenous antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) (as well as the total antioxidant capacity (TAC)) of rats after intra-peritoneal (i.p.) administration. Methods Twenty-four Wistar rats were randomly divided into two groups: the experimental group which was administered daily with a 1:1 mixture of epicatechin and catechin at a concentration of 23 mg/kg body weight for 10 days and the control group which was injected daily with an equal amount of saline. Blood and urine samples were collected before and after the administration period, as well as 10 days after (follow-up). Results Intra-peritoneal administration of catechins led to a potent decrease in GPx levels and a significant increase in SOD levels. TAC was significantly increased in plasma and urine. Malonaldehyde levels in urine remained stable. In the animals treated with catechins, SOD activity showed a moderate negative correlation with GPx activity. Discussion Boosting the activity of the antioxidant enzymes could be a potential adjuvant approach for the treatment of the oxidative stress-related diseases.