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Biomedical subjects

R de Medicis

Publications and source records attributed to R de Medicis.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Acute polyarthritis associated with birefringent lipid microspherules occurring in a patient with longstanding rheumatoid arthritis.

We describe a 52-year-old patient with longstanding rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who developed an acute polyarthritis of her hands and wrists. Synovial fluid analysis revealed the presence of intra and extracellular lipid microspherules with the typical appearance of Maltese crosses under polarized light microscopy. No other specific cause could be identified. This is the first description of an acute polyarthritis associated with lipid microspherules in RA.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1983

Correlation between ossification and inflammation using a rat experimental model.

In seronegative spondylarthropathies both inflammation and ossification can be demonstrated. Inflammation is a hallmark of diseases associated with antigen HLA-B27 in ankylosing spondylitis, Reiter's syndrome, and acute uveitis. Ossification is traditionally considered the end product of inflammation, but clinical examination does not show that this is always the case in man. The relationship between inflammation and ossification is not demonstrated in experiments on spinal involvement in adjuvant arthritis in the rat. Using that experimental model, we tested the efficacy of 3 nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (indomethacin, naproxen, and phenylbutazone) given at dosages comparable to those employed in clinical practice, but at a lower level than those used by drug companies in animals. Results show that the drug exhibiting almost no antiinflammatory activity in the rat at the dosage used, phenylbutazone, was the most powerful inhibitor of ossification. Another mechanism of local osteogenesis must be sought to explain such a phenomenon.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Inhibition of adjuvant-induced arthritis in the hyperuricemic rat.

In man, there is a strong negative correlation between gout and rheumatoid arthritis. To investigate this apparent mutual exclusion, we studied the influence of oxonate-induced hyperuricemia on the development of adjuvant arthritis in male Wistar rats. The results indicate that in the primary reaction (inflammation of the injected paw) the differences are weak (0.10 greater than p greater than 0.05) between normouricemic and hyperuricemic rats. In hyperuricemic rats the secondary reaction (induced polyarthritis) is delayed and significantly reduced (p less than 0.005). Non-immunologic carrageenin paw edema is not statistically different between the two groups (p greater than 0.25). Experimental hyperuricemia in rats seems to influence essentially the secondary, cell mediated, reaction without affecting the acute inflammatory phases.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

Inhibition of adjuvant arthritis in the rat by an oxonate diet: sequential studies.

To study the mechanism by which oxonate-induced hyperuricemia inhibits the development of adjuvant arthritis in the rat, we initiated blocking or releasing experiments by changing the oxonate diet of rats at selected times. We were able to define oxonate dietary effects on four specific periods in the development of this experimental arthritis. The inhibition of the primary inflammation at the site of the injection was weak. The inhibition of the secondary reaction was greater than the decrease of the primary inflammation and was more effective when the first two periods (sensitization to antigen and production of immunocompetent cells) were blocked. The reduction in the disease was more marked in the non-injected paw than in the injected paw. Thus, the effect of the oxonate diet is more immunosuppressive than anti-inflammatory. Release of the first period, which provoked an unexpected increase in the severity of the disease, suggests a possible influence of oxonate on pyrimidine metabolism.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Slow onset anti-rheumatic drugs in rheumatoid arthritis: could the presence of antinuclear antibody influence the therapeutic results?

The therapeutic value of sodium aurothiomalate, D-penicillamine and levamisole was evaluated in three comparable groups of 20 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. There was no intergroup difference after a 3-month follow-up and all were significantly improved (p less than 0.001). To verify if, in these patients, the presence of antinuclear antibodies (ANA) had influenced the therapeutic results, each group was retrospectively subdivided according to the ANA status. To start with, all the sub-groups were statistically comparable on the basis of measures of disease activity. The D-penicillamine group could not be analyzed. In the gold treated group, the ANA negative patients were more improved than the ANA positive (p = 0.03), and very significantly more than the levamisole-treated ANA-negative patients (p = 0.005). The ANA negative patients taking levamisole had less pain relief (p = 0.01) and showed a tendency for less overall improvement (p = 0.15) than the ANA positive patients. This preliminary study supports the idea that systematic ANA testing in RA may be of practical and theoretical value.

Anti-Inflammatory Agents↗