It has become apparent that skin manifestations are an important part of the disease process that need to be evaluated, treated and controlled. Other extramuscular manifestations, such as calcinosis, are Selleckchem Selinexor particularly difficult to treat, and studies are aimed at trying to elucidate predictors.
Recent findings
Larger cohort studies have enabled work on predictors of disease course and severity to be carried out. These include new autoantibodies in JDM (p140, which appears to have an association with calcinosis and p155 with lipodystrophy), cytokine polymorphisms, which appear to be risk factors
for developing JDM or for developing complications such as calcinosis, and the clinical findings of persistent nailfold capillary changes that are associated with a chronic disease course. Tools for more detailed assessment of skin disease have been developed and evaluated.
Summary
Improved collection
of standardized clinical data regarding extramuscular manifestations of JDM should allow researchers to continue elucidating the prognostic factors in this rare disease and assist multicentred trials in the evaluation of different treatment options.”
“The results of recent studies suggest that metformin, in addition to its antihyperglycemic efficacy, may also attenuate neuroinflammation and directly act on the central nervous system. However, the molecular mechanisms by which metformin exerts its anti-inflammatory effects in the brain remain largely unknown. Adenosine-monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activation BKM120 ic50 DAPT datasheet is the most well-known mechanism of metformin action. However,
some of the biological responses to metformin (e. g. the release of cytokines and the expression of arginase I or PGC-1 alpha) are not limited to AMPK activation but also are mediated by AMPK-independent mechanisms. This article reviews current evidence supporting the hypothesis that the shift of microglia toward alternative activation may underlie the beneficial effects of metformin observed in animal models of neurological disorders.”
“Pre-eclampsia (PE) and eclampsia remain enigmatic despite intensive research. Growing evidence suggests that placental oxidative stress (OS) is involved in the etiopathogenesis of pre-eclampsia. Reduced perfusion as a result of abnormal placentation was proposed to be responsible for placental OS in PE. However, placental OS was also observed in normal pregnancy. The exact differences and correlation of placental OS in PE and normal pregnancy remain elusive. In this review, we attempted to link both normal pregnancy and PE on the causes of placental OS and proposed a hypothesis that placental OS in normal pregnancy, plus the exploration of other placental and/or maternal factors, could provide a novel explanation of that in PE.