Measure Of Inflammatory Activity Research Articles

Indicators of rheumatoid arthritis disease activity. An association with a patient’s psychological status

Objective: to study of the relationship between psychological factors and indicators of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) disease activity in patients who have been followed up for a long time after initiation of treat-to-target therapy.Patients and methods. The investigation enrolled 38 RA patients (29 women and 9 men) aged 33 to 80 years (mean age, 56.5±12.5 years) with a mean disease duration of 6.0±0.9 years. All the patients underwent clinical examination; the following parameters were recorded: patient global assessment; physician’s global assessment; pain visual analogue scale (VAS), by measuring in millimeters; number of painful joints (NPJ), and number of swollen joints (NSJ). The investigators determined functional status with the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ), quality of life with the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey questionnaire (SF-36), the nature of pain by the painDETECT questionnaire (PDQ), and the presence of anxiety and depression with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). The patients also filled out the Resilience (Res) Questionnaire (RQ) and the General Self-Efficacy ((GSE) Scale. Disease activity was evaluated by DAS28, CDAI, and RAPID3 scores. Results and discussion. RA disease activity was high in 4 patients, moderate in 21, and low in 9, and 4 patients had DAS28 remission. The average scores of RQ, its individual components, and GSE scale were comparable with the corresponding population scores for this age group. The patients who had RQ scores below the average group ones were noted to have significantly higher scores of patient global assessment; physician’s global assessment, NPJ, NSJ, CDAI, and RAPID3 than in those who had moderate and higher RQ scores. The similar trend was traced for individual Res components, such as involvement (INV), control (CONT), and risk acceptance (RA). However, the revealed differences in these indicators failed to reach statistical significance. There was no correlation between the measures of inflammatory activity and the result of GSE. The patients with subclinical and clinical anxiety and depression had significantly lower RQ, INV, and CONT scores than those who did not have anxiety or depression, whereas RA and GSE did not differ significantly in these groups. There was a significant positive correlation of Res, INV, and CONT with the quality of life, as assessed by SF-36. The findings suggest that low RQ scores can decrease the efficiency of the therapy performed (due to the patient’s poor compliance), on the one hand, and can corrupt the result of inflammatory activity assessment (due to the impact on a patient’s perception of his/her illness), on the other hand.Conclusion. The findings may suggest that there is a need to assess the psychological status of a patient when determining the level of RA disease activity.

A rational approach to nutritional assessment

Consensus regarding definitions of malnutrition and methods to assess nutritional state is lacking. We propose a definition and its operationalization. A definition was formulated on the basis of the pathophysiology of malnutrition, while reviewing the metabolic and physiological characteristics of different populations, considered to be malnourished. The definition was operationalized to yield measures to perform nutritional assessment. Malnutrition was defined as "a subacute or chronic state of nutrition in which a combination of varying degrees of over- or undernutrition and inflammatory activity has led to a change in body composition and diminished function". Its operationalization led to four elements that may serve as the basis of nutritional assessment: (1) measurement of nutrient balance, (2) measurement of body composition, (3) measurement of inflammatory activity, and (4) measurement of muscle, immune and cognitive function. Most elements measured should be validated with gold standards; normal values should be obtained in different populations. Values obtained in people considered to be at nutritional risk should be related to outcome. A definition is proposed that reflects the pathophysiology of malnutrition and that, when operationalized, will lead to measures reflecting this pathophysiology. Such an approach may yield comparable and reproducible rates and degrees of malnutrition in populations as well as in individuals.

M1116 Contrast-Enhanced Wideband Harmonic Imaging Ultrasound and Contrast Media “Blood-Pool”: Quantitative Measurement of Inflammatory Activity in Crohn's Disease Using Parametric Imaging

M1116 Contrast-Enhanced Wideband Harmonic Imaging Ultrasound and Contrast Media “Blood-Pool”: Quantitative Measurement of Inflammatory Activity in Crohn's Disease Using Parametric Imaging

Validation of functional activity index in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RAS)

Objective. To evaluate psychometric properties of Patient Activity Scale (PAS) index and possibility of its application for assessment of pt functional activity (PFA) and therapy efficacy in pts with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Materia l and methods . Validity assessment was performed on 454 pts with definite RA,mainly female (85,2%) with mean age 51,3±11,3 years, mean disease duration was 9,1±8,5 years, 59,7% of pts were seropositive on rheumatoid factor, most pts had moderate or high inflammatory activity of the disease (95,6%), II or III radiological stage ( 44,7% and 27,8% respectively, II (53,5%) or III (31,8%) functional class. Constructive validity of the index was assessed by calculation of coefficients of correlation with “external criteria”. Sensitivity was assessed with ACR criteria in 285 pts after 6 months of standard therapy. Reliability (reproducibility and internal constancy) were assessed in 92 pts in 3 days after admission. Results. Assessment of PAS reliability with test-retest analysis did not reveal differences between first and repeat examination of pts whose state had not change after 3 days (mean scores 5,07±1,27 and 5,17±1,34 respectively, p=0,45). Intra-class Cronbach alpha coefficient was 0,95 (p<0,000001). Constructive validity assessment revealed moderate relationship of PFA with disease inflammatory activity measures: morning stiffness duration (r= 0,33, p<0,0000001), DAS 28 value (r=46, p<0,001), tender joint count (r=0,39, p<0,0000001), swollen joint count (r=0,28, p<0,0002) and weak relationship with ESR and radiological stage of the disease (r=0,17, p<0,00001). PAS correlation relationships with quality of life measures assessed on all SF-36 scales varied from -0,37 to -0,58. Index sensitivity to changes assessment showed that PAS change exceeding 0,22 corresponded to at least 20% health improvement according to ACR criteria. Conclusion . PAS is a reliable, valid and sensitive instrument of pt functional state self assessment and can be used for dynamic evaluation of pts state and treatment efficacy in outpatient practice

Intraluminal cellular desquamation as a measure of inflammatory activity in inflammatory bowel disease

Intraluminal cellular desquamation as a measure of inflammatory activity in inflammatory bowel disease

Faecal Parameters in the Assessment of Activity in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Background: Determination of inflammatory activity is helpful when assessing the efficacy of drugs in therapeutic trials and in facilitating management of individual patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Faecal parameters have been hypothesized to be more specific than non-faecal measurements in the assessment of intestinal inflammation. Methods: Review of the literature on faecal measurements in IBD. Results and conclusions: Leakage of various proteins and leukocyte products into the intestinal lumen can be assessed and quantified in stool specimens and serve as a measurement of inflammatory activity. Several of these faecal parameters are raised in patients with IBD. There is a considerable overlap between patients with active and those with inactive disease, however, and the correlation of the faecal parameters with disease activity indices is often low. The value of α 1-antitrypsin measurement in faeces in the assessment of intestinal inflammation has been well established. Further studies in patients with IBD are needed to determine whether other faecal parameters, such as lactoferrin, tumour necrosis factor α , PMN-elastase, lysozyme, leucocyte esterase, immunoglobulin A, among others, are more accurate or cost-effective than measurement of α 1-antitrypsin in the stools of such patients.

Measures of activity and damage in rheumatoid arthritis: depiction of changes and prediction of mortality over five years.

To analyze various quantitative measures of inflammatory activity and joint damage, including articular, radiographic, laboratory, questionnaire, and physical function measures, in regard to changes in status in surviving patients and prediction of mortality in non-survivors over 5 years in a cohort of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) monitored in the mid-1980s and early 1990s. A comprehensive evaluation, which included a complete joint count, radiograph, laboratory tests, physical measures of function, and self-report questionnaire scales, was performed at baseline and 5 years later in 210 consecutive patients with RA. Five years after baseline, 206 of the 210 patients were accounted for: 37 had died, 130 had a comprehensive repeat assessment, and 39 had a more limited repeat assessment. In surviving patients, most measures of activity were generally unchanged or somewhat better, including joint tenderness, pain on motion, and swelling; erythrocyte sedimentation rate and rheumatoid factor; as well as questionnaire scores for pain, global status, helplessness, and difficulty in performing 8 activities of daily living (ADL) according to a modified Health Assessment Questionnaire (MHAQ). By contrast, measures of damage, including joint deformity, grip strength, walk time, and radiographic scores, indicated worse status. Mortality over 5 years was predicted significantly in univariable analyses by American College of Rheumatology (formerly the American Rheumatism Association) Functional Class, limited joint motion, scores for MHAQ, global status, helplessness, grip strength, walk time, button time, and number of comorbidities and duration of diseases, as well as the sociodemographic measures of age and formal education. In multivariable Cox regressions, age, comorbidities, MHAQ, and other measures of functional status were the most effective predictors of 5-year mortality. In patients with RA, most measures of inflammatory activity were unchanged and sometimes better, while measures of damage indicated worse status in the same patients over 5 years. Measures indicating functional disability, as well as age and comorbidities, predict 5-year mortality more effectively than radiographic and laboratory data. Measures of inflammatory activity may underestimate long-term outcomes in RA, and long-term studies should include measures of damage.

Who best assesses Crohn's disease?

Knowledge of the presence and the degree of inflammation in Crohn's disease would be useful in multicentre therapeutic trials. Objectives; The purpose of the present study was two fold, a) to determine the relationship between clinical assessment of activity by two clinicians with four previously published indices, the Crohn's disease activity index (CDAI), the Van Hees activity index (AI), the simple index of Harvey and Bradsaw (SI) and the Fielding index and b) for the first time, to study the internal correlation between these four indices. A hundred and ninety-four assessments were performed on 56 patients with Crohn's disease. Following each clinical assessment, the aforementioned indices were calculated. Both clinicians gave the same rating of activity in 81% (157) of assessments. A good relationship was observed between the median indical values and the clinical gradings for all four indices. The best relationship was demonstrated with the AI with no overlap in 50% values with increasing grades of disease activity. All four indices demonstrated a good correlation with each other (p < 0.01). The best correlation was observed between more objective indices the AI and the Fielding index (r = 0.79) for first assessments only. Conclusion. The Van Hees AI is a reliable measure of inflammatory activity in Crohn's disease and would be useful in multicentre therapeutic trials.

111Indium-labelled Leukocytes for Measurement of Inflammatory Activity in Arthritis

Mononuclear leukocytes and granulocytes have been separated and labelled with 111In-oxine (111In). We show that granulocytes as well as monocytes can be labelled with 111In without serious adverse effects on the viability of the cells. The separated and 111In-labelled cells from patients with rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis were reinfused into the patients and detection was made with a gamma camera over the inflamed joints. The study shows that images and semi-quantitative indices of leukocyte accumulation in the joints could be obtained in these patients. We suggest that the method may be a sensitive indicator of non exsudative synovitis and allow assessment of inflammation in joints not amenable to physical examination. This method also opens new possibilities to measure the migration of different leukocytes over the synovial membrane.

Activation of blood coagulation in Crohn's disease

Abstract We have examined the relationships among activation of blood coagulation, generation of monocyte procoagulant activity, and clinical activity in patients with Crohn's disease. Subclinical activation of blood coagulation was measured using a radioimmunoassay for fibrinopeptide A. Fibrinopeptide A levels were strongly correlated with the level of disease activity as measured by the Crohn's disease activity index. Patients with active disease who were successfully treated either medically or surgically demonstrated a reduction of fibrinopeptide A levels. Failure of fibrinopeptide A to return to the normal range predicted an early relapse. Monocyte tissue factor generation was assessed in both unstimulated and lipopolysaccharide-stimulated mononuclear cell cultures obtained from the peripheral blood of patients with Crohn's disease. A strong correlation (r = 0.89) was observed between plasma fibrinopeptide A levels and monocyte tissue factor generation. These results suggest that monocyte procoagulant generation may contribute to the activation of blood coagulation in this inflammatory bowel disease. Moreover, fibrinopeptide A levels in Crohn's disease may provide a useful quantitative measure of inflammatory activity.

Heparin and the ESR

<h3>To the Editor.—</h3> Heparin sodium is widely used as an anticoagulant in patients with thromboembolic phenomena, while the ESR is still widely used as a measure of inflammatory activity. There are cases in which the ESR is determined concurrently with the administration of heparin. Any interaction between the drug and the test is of interest, as it can influence clinical decisions. We noted that when blood is taken with heparin instead of citrate andthe ESR is determined, exceedingly high values averaging 100 mm after one hour (1 SD ± 43) and 116 mm after two hours (1 SD ± 30) are found (13 mixed cases). The corresponding values for the same samples taken with citrate were 23 mm after one hour (1 SD ± 27) and 50 mm after two hours (1 SD ± 47). The difference is statistically significant at the<i>P</i>=.001 level (two-sided paired comparison<i>t</i>