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Biomedical subjects

R Manthorpe

Publications and source records attributed to R Manthorpe.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Association of dry eyes and dry mouth with anti-Ro/SS-A and anti-La/SS-B autoantibodies in normal adults.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the extent to which seemingly healthy, mature adults with mild symptoms of dry eyes or dry mouth share the immunologic features found in patients with Sjögren's syndrome. METHODS: Of 705 subjects in Malmö, Sweden (age range 52-72 years) who responded to a questionnaire, 35% reported some symptoms of dry eyes or mouth. A random subgroup of the symptomatic subjects (n = 77) and an age- and sex-matched control group from among the asymptomatic subjects (n = 32) were evaluated objectively by serologic testing and by various measures of exocrine gland function. RESULTS: The symptomatic subjects had relatively impaired exocrine gland function and elevated levels of anti-Ro and anti-La (1.54-2.88-fold increase compared with the asymptomatic subjects, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.41, 4.03). The 2 autoantibodies correlated with each other (r = 0.64, 95% CI 0.49, 0.78) as well as with selected clinical measures of glandular function. CONCLUSION: The association between self-reported symptoms of dry eyes or dry mouth and anti-Ro and anti-La, found in more than one-third of mature adults in this study, suggests that the immune abnormalities and exocrine gland dysfunction found in Sjögren's syndrome affect a substantial proportion of the general population.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

Salivary gland involvement in autoimmune thyroiditis, with special reference to the degree of association with Sjögren's syndrome.

From a total of 63 patients with autoimmune thyroiditis, 19 cases were further investigated to determine the degree of concomitant morphologic and functional salivary gland changes. For comparison, 21 of a total of 28 cases of primary Sjögren's syndrome were also examined. Of the 19 cases of autoimmune thyroiditis, 11 showed various degrees of salivary gland involvement on the basis of an analysis of lower lip salivary gland biopsy specimens, scintigraphy of the parotid, and unstimulated whole sialometry. Six of these cases fulfilled the criteria of primary Sjögren's syndrome. A remarkably high proportion of dark-staining acini was observed in the lower lip biopsy specimens of our patients with thyroiditis (8 of 19, 42%) and less among our patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (5 of 21, 24%). We conclude that significant involvement of salivary glands may occur in cases of autoimmune thyroiditis, which indicates that common mechanisms may frequently be operative in the development of thyroid and salivary gland immune disease.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Effect of education, occupation and some lifestyle factors on common rheumatic complaints in a Swedish group aged 50-70 years.

The relation between common rheumatic diseases such as osteoarthrosis, arthralgia without definite signs of osteoarthrosis, subacromial shoulder pain, different forms of tendinitis, low back pain and neck pain, and the level of formal education, occupational workload and some lifestyle factors were examined in 502 of 900 randomly selected subjects aged 50-70 years. The group with rheumatic complaints had a higher proportion of subjects with a lower level of formal education (less than or equal to eight years) by bivariate analysis. In multivariate analysis, the major risk factors were: a self rated heavy workload (odds ratio (OR) 6.4), sleep disturbance (OR 3.6), and advanced age (OR 2.0 per five year increase) for osteoarthrosis; a self rated heavy workload for subacromial shoulder pain (OR 5.4) and low back pain (OR 4.8); and a self rated heavy workload (OR 8.0) and female sex (OR 4.8) for neck pain. A self rated heavy workload was strongly correlated with a low level of formal education. A heavy workload (i.e. previous or present principal occupation) could only be confirmed in the groups with neck pain and low back pain on the basis of available occupational classification data. Neck pain was thus associated with occupations entailing repetitive tasks and awkward posture with respect to the neck, shoulders, and back. Low back pain was associated with occupations entailing awkward posture with respect to the neck, shoulders, and back, and occupations entailing exposure to vibration and heavy manual work. It is concluded that, in a cross sectional sample of an elderly population, a low level of formal education and self rated heavy physical work are associated with the occurrence of adult rheumatic complaints, though the self rated heavy workload could only be verified in the groups with neck pain and low back pain. There correlations between heavy work and low back pain, and especially neck pain, suggest that successful prevention would mean a substantial economic gain to the community. Whether the level of education is a marker of risk factors other than a heavy occupational workload needs further evaluation.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1992

Primary Sjögren's syndrome in patients with multiple sclerosis.

The relationship between multiple sclerosis (MS) and primary Sjögren's syndrome (PSS) is ambiguous; it was suggested that some patients diagnosed with MS may instead have PSS. In a recent epidemiologic study, the prevalence of PSS was 2.7% in southern Sweden. We randomly selected 30 patients with definite MS from our patient population and investigated them for evidence of PSS according to the Copenhagen criteria. One patient had clinical symptoms compatible with PSS and also fulfilled the Copenhagen criteria. In addition, five patients had keratoconjunctivitis sicca, one had xerostomia, and three had histopathologic evidence of sialadenitis in the lower lip salivary glands. However, one of these findings alone is not sufficient to support the diagnosis of PSS. We conclude that MS and PSS may coexist in the same individual, but PSS is not more common among MS patients than expected in the general population.

Antibodies, Antinuclear↗
PubMed1992

Fatty acid composition of adipose tissue and serum micronutrients in relation to common rheumatic complaints in Swedish adults 50-70 years old.

Biochemical markers of nutritional status, such as adipose tissue fatty acid composition and circulating levels of micronutrients, may reflect dietary habits, but may also be related to inflammatory activity. We examined the relationship between common rheumatic complaints such as osteo-arthrosis, arthralgia, tendinitis, low-back pain, and neck pain, and the composition of adipose tissue fatty acids, serum concentrations of retinol, ascorbic acid, alpha-tocopherol and selenium in 502, out of 900 randomly selected individuals 50-70 years old. Compared with control subjects the rheumatic group as a whole (p less than 0.01) as well as subgroups like those with arthralgia (p less than 0.01), subacromial shoulder pain (p less than 0.03), and low-back pain (p less than 0.05), had decreased proportions of adipose tissue arachidonic acid. The abnormalities correlated with the duration of the symptom-free period preceding adipose tissue sampling and could not be explained by the evaluation of possible confounding factors. Regarding other fatty acids and micronutrients there were no differences between symptomatic subjects and controls. One explanation for the low proportion of adipose tissue arachidonic acid may be increased eicosanoid production.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1990

Correlation of fatty acid composition of adipose tissue lipids and serum phosphatidylcholine and serum concentrations of micronutrients with disease duration in rheumatoid arthritis.

To establish the concentrations of micronutrients in serum, fatty acid composition in serum phosphatidylcholine and in adipose tissue, and their correlation with inflammation and disease duration in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 21 consecutive patients with recently diagnosed disease (mean duration eight months), 21 patients with longstanding disease (mean duration 15 years), and 57 controls were examined. In the patients with RA low concentrations of the essential fatty acids, linoleic acid (18:2) and linolenic (18:3) acid, and high concentrations of total saturated fatty acids, both in serum phosphatidylcholine and in adipose tissue, were found, abnormalities that increased with disease duration. The proportion of 18:2 in serum phosphatidylcholine correlated inversely with such acute phase proteins as orosomucoid and C reactive protein. It is proposed that the decreases in essential fatty acids are related to increased activity in the desaturase/elongation enzymes, increased production of eicosanoids, or metabolic changes secondary to cytokine mediated inflammatory reaction. When the micronutrients were studied it was found that serum concentrations of selenium were lower in patients than in controls, but not those of ascorbic acid, alpha-tocopherol, retinol, folic acid, or cobalamine. Ascorbic acid concentrations tended to be lower in RA, however, and correlated inversely with those of haptoglobin, orosomucoid, and C reactive protein, indicating a relation between the ascorbic acid concentration and the degree of inflammation.

Acute-Phase Proteins↗
PubMed1989

Rose bengal score--a possible key parameter when evaluating disease level and progression in primary Sjögren's syndrome.

The rose bengal score is one of the most commonly used tests for evaluation of ocular surface epithelial damage. The test is used in most Sjögren's syndrome criteria. We examined 24 female and four male patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (primary SS) in order to evaluate possible correlation between the various tests for keratoconjuncivitis sicca (KCS), and for possible correlations to xerostomia and p-IgG levels. Among the KCS tests a high rose bengal score appeared to be the key parameter, being correlated to low break-up time (P less than 0.01), low tear lysozyme (P less than 0.01), appearance of snake-like chromatin in conjunctival imprints (P less than 0.05), low sialometry (P greater than 0.01) and high p-IgG (P less than 0.01). We followed another group of patients with primary SS (30 females and four males) for a mean period of 53 (range 27-76) months. The patients were divided according to their initial response to systemic treatment with bromhexine. KCS parametres and p-IgG were measured repeatedly during the observation period. Patients responding to and continuously treated with bromhexine (2/3 of patients) improved significantly (P less than 0.05) in rose bengal score, but had increasing levels of p-IgG. Non-responders kept their low tear-production rate and had also increasing p-IgG levels. However, when subdivided according to p-IgG level, the group of patients with relatively low p-IgG improved in rose begal score, whereas the high p-IgG-group increased in rose bengal score. The rose bengal score appears to be a useful key parameter when evaluating disease level and progression.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Polyclonal B-cell activation is related to exocrine manifestations of primary Sjögren's syndrome.

Twenty-four female and four male patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome were examined in order to evaluate possible correlations between the exocrine disease manifestations and polyclonal B-cell activation parameters. All patients were examined three times over a 4-month period and none of them received any systemic medical treatment. Van Bijsterveld scores were negatively correlated to unstimulated whole salivary flow rate (sialometry) values (P less than 0.01) and break-up times (BUT) (P less than 0.01), while unrelated to Schirmer-1 values. Unstimulated sialometry values were, in addition, positively correlated to Schirmer-1 values (P less than 0.01), while BUT were unrelated to Schirmer-1 and unstimulated sialometry values. P-IgG levels were positively correlated to van Bijsterveld scores (P less than 0.01) and negatively correlated to break-up times (P less than 0.05), while unrelated to unstimulated sialometry and Schirmer-1 values. P-IgG levels were furthermore positively correlated to levels of P-IgM (P less than 0.05), P-IgA (P less than 0.05), serum IgM-RF (P less than 0.001) and serum ANA (P less than 0.01). Levels of P-IgM-RF were positively correlated to van Bijsterveld scores (P less than 0.01), but to none of the other exocrine manifestations. We conclude that the plasma levels of B-cell products seem to correlate positively with the degree of ocular involvement in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome, indicating a relationship between the immunoinflammatory processes and the mucosal damage.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Dry eyes or mouth--an epidemiological study in Swedish adults, with special reference to primary Sjögren's syndrome.

The prevalence of dry eyes or dry mouth, and of primary Sjögren's syndrome (primary SS) according to the Copenhagen criteria were established in 705 randomly selected subjects, aged 52-72 years who answered a simple questionnaire, and of whom 247 (35%) reported symptoms. A subgroup with symptoms (n = 77) and a matched asymptomatic control group (n = 32) were examined with the Schimer-1 test (S1t), tear film break-up time (BUT), van Bijsterveld score (vB), unstimulated whole sialometry (Sialo) and, in about 40% of them labial salivary gland (LSG) biopsy and salivary gland scintigraphy. Apart from four cases of keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS) among controls, cases of KCS (15), xerostomia (12), autoimmune sialoadenitis (6) and primary SS (6) were exclusively confined to the symtomatic group. The calculated frequencies (with 95% confidence intervals) for the whole population were 14.9 (7.3-22.6)% for KCS, 5.5(3.0-7.9)% for xerostomia and 2.7 (1.0-4.5)% for autoimmune sialoadenitis and primary SS. The serum levels of ANA and RF were similar in the two groups, though those of anti-SS-B/La antibodies were higher in the group with symptoms (P less than 0.01).

Aged↗
PubMed1989

The commonest rheumatic complaints of over six weeks' duration in a twelve-month period in a defined Swedish population. Prevalences and relationships.

In 900 randomly selected individuals, 50-70 years old, we examined the prevalence over the preceding 12-month period of rheumatic complaints of more than 6 weeks' duration. We found them to represent a major health problem, with an overall prevalence of 37.8%, the predominant diagnoses being subacromial shoulder pain (6.7%), neck pain (6.5%), low back pain (6.3%), osteo-arthrosis (8.5%), and arthralgia (4.9%). With a prevalence of 1.0%, primary fibromyalgia was as common as rheumatoid arthritis (0.7%) and other chronic arthritides (1.1%). The prevalences of the different diagnoses were higher among participants whose data were obtained from personal investigation by a physician than among non-participants where data were obtained by interview, letter, and scrutiny of case records. The odds ratio from incurring more than one rheumatic disease was higher for subacromial shoulder pain and lowest for arthralgia and osteo-arthrosis.

Aged↗
PubMed1989

Autoimmune antibodies and pregnancy outcome in women with false-positive syphilis test results. A retrospective controlled investigation of women from 5170 deliveries.

Nine pregnant women with false-positive syphilis test results, and 13 matched controls, were screened for autoimmune antibodies to ascertain whether any relationship might exist between their presence and the occurrence of obstetric problems. Investigations included assays for anti-cardiolipin antibodies (ACA), lupus anticoagulant (LAC), anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA) (including antibodies against extractable nuclear antigen), anti-smooth muscle antibodies, anti-mitochondrial antibodies, anti-DNA antibodies, IgM-RF and complement factors. We found no significant difference in the incidence of obstetric problems between the two groups. Except that significantly more women were positive for ACA in the group with false-positive syphilis tests than in the control group, there were no differences between the groups with regard to the antibodies tested for. There was only one case of SLE, a patient positive for LAC, and who had had several miscarriages and no pregnancy resulting in a live birth. Our findings suggest that it would be unwarranted to devote resources to routine screening for these antibodies in healthy women with a false-positive syphilis test result, though the presence of LAC could possibly be used as an indicator of the risk of spontaneous abortion due to SLE.

Antiphospholipid Syndrome↗