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S Aguilera

Publications and source records attributed to S Aguilera.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Basal lamina disorganisation of the acini and ducts of labial salivary glands from patients with Sjogren's syndrome: association with mononuclear cell infiltration.

OBJECTIVE: To study the expression of laminin and type IV collagen as biomarkers of the organisation of the basal lamina of acini and ducts in labial salivary glands from patients with Sjögren's syndrome, and to relate this organisation to inflammatory cell invasion of acini and ducts. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry for laminin and type IV collagen was undertaken on sections of labial salivary glands from 30 patients with Sjögren's syndrome, 10 control subjects, and 24 controls with chronic sialoadenitis. Immunohistochemistry reaction, alterations to cell morphology, and the presence of inflammatory cells in acini and ducts were evaluated and scored using a semiquantitative method. RESULTS: Changes in the expression of laminin and type IV collagen in the basal lamina of acini and ducts of labial salivary glands from patients with Sjögren's syndrome were more pronounced than in labial salivary glands from control groups. A remarkable characteristic was the disorganisation of the basal lamina in the labial salivary glands in Sjögren's syndrome. The pattern of immunoreactivity of the basal lamina of other structures (for example, blood vessels) did not change. In Sjögren's syndrome, invasion of cytotoxic T lymphocytes was only observed in acini and ducts which had a disorganised basal lamina. CONCLUSIONS: The high state of disorganisation of the basal lamina of acini and ducts could allow invasion of cytotoxic T lymphocytes in Sjögren's syndrome, contributing to cell death and ductal hyperplasia.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Differential expression of matrix metalloproteinases in labial salivary glands of patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the enzymatic activity and cellular localization of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) 2, 3, and 9 in labial salivary glands from patients with different degrees of severity of primary Sjogren's syndrome (primary SS). METHODS: Gelatinase activity was determined by zymography and quantified by densitometry. The specificity of MMPs was determined using protease inhibitors and chelators, as well as activators of the latent forms of these enzymes. The cellular localization of MMPs was carried out using monoclonal antibodies that recognize their latent and active forms. RESULTS: Labial glands from control subjects and patients showed gelatinase activity for MMP-2 and MMP-9. Activation studies revealed that both enzymes were predominantly present in their latent forms. The highest levels of MMP-9 activity were detected in patients with severe, active, primary SS (except for patients with severe clinical symptoms for extended periods) and correlated with structural and functional glandular changes. MMP-2 activity was almost the same in patients and controls. MMPs were detected by immunolocalization only in acinar and ductal cells and were homogeneously distributed throughout patients' glands. MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression paralleled their gelatinase activity. MMP-3, detectable only with immunologic methods, was absent in control subjects but abundantly expressed in patients. Importantly, MMP protein levels in acinar and ductal cells were independent of either the presence or the proximity of mononuclear infiltrate cells. CONCLUSION: MMP-3 and MMP-9 expression, as well as MMP-9 catalytic activity, were increased in tissue samples from SS patients in a manner that correlated with the severity of the disease. Most important, increased MMP activity stemmed from exocrine epithelial cells and was not due to infiltrating lymphocytes. Thus, changes in salivary glands as a consequence of proteolysis may lead to severe glandular destruction.

Humans↗
PubMed2000

[Salivary gland scintigraphy en Sjogren syndrome and its relation with the result of lip biopsy. Comparative study with a control population].

BACKGROUND: Salivary gland scintigraphy allows a non invasive, morphological and functional assessment of parotid and submaxillary salivary glands. AIM: To describe the main features of salivary gland scintigraphy in patients with Sjögren syndrome, rheumatic fibromyalgia and normal controls and compare the results with lip biopsy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Sixty one normal controls, 66 patients with Sjögren syndrome and 18 patients with rheumatic fibromyalgia were studied. For the diagnosis of Sjögren syndrome and fibromyalgia rheumatica, the Modified European and American College of Rheumatology criteria were used, respectively. Lip biopsies were obtained in 52 patients with Sjögren syndrome. Scintigraphy was done with a gamma camera and computer after the administration of 99mTc-pertechnetate, obtaining images during 30 min and creating time/activity curves. Scintigraphy was classified as normal, with mild or severe alterations. RESULTS: Scintigraphy was normal in 74% of control subjects and in 26%, it had mild alterations. In 72% of patients with rheumatic fibromyalgia, scintigraphy was normal whereas in 28%, it had mild alterations. In 27% of patients with Sjögren syndrome, scintigraphy was normal, in 27% it had mild alterations and in 46%, severe alterations. There was a positive and significant correlation between pathological alterations of salivary glands and scintigraphic alterations (r = 0.642, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Severe scintigraphic alterations of salivary glands strongly support the diagnosis of Sjögren syndrome. Mild alterations are non specific and a normal scintigraphy does not exclude the diagnosis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

[Protein diffusion patterns in human saliva].

BACKGROUND: There are two modes of saliva protein diffusion on a cellulose flat matrix. The monophasic mode of diffusion consists in a homogeneous distribution of salivary protein components on the matrix. On the contrary, in the biphasic mode, an area occupied by nondiffusible proteins is surrounded by an area occupied by diffusible proteins. AIM: To study protein diffusion patterns of saliva obtained from normal human volunteers. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Saliva was obtained from 33 subjects aged 67.5 +/- 12 years old (29 female). Forty microliters of saliva were deposited in the center of cellulose disks for protein diffusion assays. RESULTS: Thirty three whole saliva samples and 31 submandibular/sublingual samples showed a biphasic diffusion pattern. On the contrary, 62 out of 66 samples of parotid saliva displayed a monophasic diffusion pattern. In one parotid saliva samples and 2 submandibular/sublingual samples, the diffusion pattern could not be established. Patterns of salivary protein diffusion were highly consistent within the same individual. Eighty percent of subjects had an unequivocal pattern of saliva protein diffusion. CONCLUSIONS: The monophasic mode of saliva protein diffusion is a feature of parotid saliva, whereas the biphasic mode is characteristic of submandibular/sublingual and whole saliva.

Aged↗
PubMed1996

[Distal renal tubular acidosis and nephrolithiasis in 3 cases of primary Sjögren syndrome].

Tubulo interstitial nephritis, the main manifestation of renal involvement in Sjögren syndrome, may lead to a tubular dysfunction that is usually subclinical. We report three women, aged 32, 35 and 35 years old, with a primary Sjögren syndrome and symptomatic type I or distal tubular acidosis. Two patients had nephrolithiasis and one a nephrocalcinosis. Two had a basal hyperchloremic metabolic acidosis. The ammonium chloride acidification test was abnormal in all, demonstrating a distal tubular defect. None had proximal tubular dysfunction. All had an urinary pH over 6.5 and hypocitraturia and none had hypercalciuria. Renal calculi were composed of calcium oxalate and calcium phosphate in two patients and calcium phosphate and ammonium phosphate in the other. All women had positive antinuclear antibodies with mottled pattern, two had anti Ro antibodies and positive rheumatoid factor and one had hypergammaglobulinemia. None had anti La antibodies, crioglobulinemia or monoclonal proteins.

Acidosis, Renal Tubular↗
PubMed1995

[Synovial chondromatosis: review of 25 monoarticular cases].

We report 25 patients (20 female) aged 34 to 74 years old, with monoarticular synovial chondromatosis. Affected joints were the knee in 25 cases, the ankle in one case and the elbow in one case. Chronic articular pain was the main symptom, followed by swelling, limitation in motion range, free palpable bodies and symptomatic popliteal cysts. X ray examination showed free calcified osteochondroid bodies in 48% of patients and secondary osteoarthritis in 36%. Bone scintiscan showed an increased focal uptake. All pathological samples had chondroid or osteochondroid nodules; 64% had small blood vessels, thickened with concentric collagen laminae and 20% had isolated chondrocytes. Malignant degeneration was not observed. Surgical or artroscopic synovectomy was the procedure of choice in 20 knees. In the affected elbow and ankle, extraction of free bodies was the sole procedure. No recurrences were observed. It is concluded that synovial chondromatosis must be considered in the differential diagnosis of chronic articular pain and monoarthritis.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

[Migratory regional osteoporosis. Effect of treatment with calcitonin. Report of 2 cases].

We report two cases of regional migratory osteoporosis. One is a 41 years old male, with the classical form, presenting with successive episodes of painful osteoporosis lasting for 5 months at the hip, knee and distal epiphysis of the right metatarsophalangeal joints. The second case is a 40 years old female presenting with an unusual disseminated form, lasting for 30 months, with successive and simultaneous episodes of polyarticular and costal painful osteoporosis. An increased bone fraction of serum alkaline phosphatases and urine hydroxyproline/creatinine and calcium/creatinine ratios were detected. Imaging showed localized periarticular or costal osteoporosis. Bone biopsies disclosed a severe osteopenia with accelerated bone reabsorption. Bone scintigraphy precociously detected location, migration and evolution of lesions. Patients were treated with subcutaneous calcitonin, 100 U/day during 1 month and on alternative days posteriorly; this treatment alleviated pain but did not prevent the appearance of new crisis. Our observations suggest that regional migratory osteoporosis presentation may range from oligoarticular to disseminated forms and that calcitonin has a precocious and persistent analgesic effect.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

[Radiation synovectomy with yttrium 90 and rhenium 186 in rheumatoid arthritis, long term follow-up and effects on synovial membrane].

Despite the progress in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), many patients continue to suffer from persistent and painful synovitis. We assessed the clinical results of 64 intraarticular injections of Yttrium 90 in the knee and 56 injections of Rhenium 186 in the wrist in 71 patients with RA, older than 40 years, without relief of synovitis after six months of systemic or local treatment and with a radiological stage I or II of their joints. We obtained good results in 75% of knees and 100 of wrists during a follow up period of 8 to 60 months. A repeated histological examination of the synovial membrane of 14 joints in which good results were obtained disclosed a reduction in inflammation and transitory synovial cell hyperplasia that ended in a dense fibrosis. It is concluded that radiation synovectomy continues to be an effective therapy for selected patients with RA and synovitis. The observed histopathological changes may aid the interpretation of magnetic resonance imaging of the treated joints.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Effects of cyclosporine on tubular acidification function in patients with idiopathic uveitis.

Renal tubular acidification function was studied in 12 patients treated with cyclosporine (Cy) for idiopathic uveitis (IU) and in 5 patients with IU not treated with Cy. After intravenous bicarbonate loading fractional bicarbonate excretion was similar in both groups indicating normal proximal tubular acidification function. Plasma renin activity, plasma aldosterone and transtubular potassium gradient were similar in both groups. Distal hydrogen ion secretion evaluated by the ability to increase urine-blood (U-B) pCO2 in a highly alkaline urine was impaired in Cy-treated patients (31.8 +/- 3.2 mm Hg) as compared to controls (47.9 +/- 0.5 mm Hg) (p < 0.005). We conclude that Cy therapy is associated with a distal acidification defect with a low U-B pCO2 gradient during sodium bicarbonate loading. Because none of our Cy-treated patients spontaneously developed over metabolic acidosis one could classify them as having an incomplete form of distal tubular acidosis.

Acidosis, Renal Tubular↗
PubMed1978

Acquired heterophile antigens on the surface of human cell lines.

Chicken IgM antibodies raised against sheep erythrocytes (SE) reacted with a heterophile carbohydrate antigen designated as "HC". This antigen was visualized by SE rosette formation with antibody-sensitized and formaldehyde-fixed target cells. Cells from eight lymphoblastoid lines and ten lines of diverse histogenetic origin all expressed HC on their surface to a greater or lesser degree when grown in fetal calf serum (FCS). Lymphoblastoid cell lines, HSB2 and Namalva, lost most of their HC antigen after three cell divisions when grown in medium which contained normal human serum (NHS) instead of FCS. The acquired origin of HC was demonstrated by the conversion of HSB2-HC- into HSB2-HC+ cells after incubation in the presence of FCS or fetuin for 18 h at 37 degrees C. The acquisition of HC antigen depended on the concentration of fetuin as well as the time and temperature of incubation. The presence of NHS in the culture medium reduced the degree of HC incorporation. The level of HC expressed on the cell surface was reduced by treating HSB2 cells with sodium periodate but not by proteolytic enzymes. Competitive inhibition with hog blood group substance and sheep IgG suggested similar specificity of HC on target cells which had been sensitized with either fetuin or sheep IgM (Eur. J. Immunol. 1977.7:204). The avidity of chicken antibodies to HC in either of these systems was several orders of magnitude lower than the binding to SE.

Antigens, Heterophile↗