Administering the Sarcoidosis Health Questionnaire to sarcoidosis patients in Serbia / Aplicação do Sarcoidosis Health Questionnaire em pacientes com sarcoidose na Sérvia

Objective: The aim of this study was to use a Serbian-language version of the disease-specific, self-report Sarcoidosis Health Questionnaire (SHQ), which was designed and originally validated in the United States, to assess health status in sarcoidosis patients in Serbia, as well as validating the instrument for use in the country. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 346 patients with biopsy-confirmed sarcoidosis. To evaluate the health status of the patients, we used the SHQ, which was translated into Serbian for the purposes of this study. We compared SHQ scores by patient gender and age, as well as by disease duration and treatment. Lower SHQ scores indicate poorer health status. Results: The SHQ scores demonstrated differences in health status among subgroups of the sarcoidosis patients evaluated. Health status was found to be significantly poorer among female patients and older patients, as well as among those with chronic sarcoidosis or extrapulmonary manifestations of the disease. Monotherapy with methotrexate was found to be associated with better health status than was monotherapy with prednisone or combination therapy with prednisone and methotrexate. Conclusions: The SHQ is a reliable, disease-specific, self-report instrument. Although originally designed for use in the United States, the SHQ could be a useful tool for the assessment of health status in various non-English-speaking populations of sarcoidosis patients.

Objetivo: O objetivo deste estudo foi utilizar uma versão no idioma sérvio do Sarcoidosis Health Questionnaire (SHQ), um questionário de autorrelato doença-específico, concebido e originalmente validado nos EUA, para verificar o estado de saúde de pacientes com sarcoidose na Sérvia, além de validar o instrumento para uso no país. Métodos: Estudo transversal com 346 pacientes com sarcoidose confirmada por biópsia. Para avaliar o estado de saúde dos pacientes, utilizamos o SHQ, o qual foi traduzido para o sérvio para os propósitos deste estudo. Comparamos os escores do SHQ por gênero, idade, duração da doença e tratamento. Escores do SHQ mais baixos indicam pior estado de saúde. Resultados: Os escores do SHQ demonstraram diferenças no estado de saúde entre os subgrupos de pacientes avaliados. O estado de saúde foi significativamente pior entre as mulheres e pacientes mais velhos, assim como entre aqueles com sarcoidose crônica ou com manifestações extrapulmonares da doença. A monoterapia com metotrexato associou-se com melhor estado de saúde do que a monoterapia com prednisona ou a terapia combinada com prednisona e metotrexato. Conclusões: O SHQ é um instrumento de autorrelato doença-específico confiável. Embora originalmente concebido para uso nos EUA, o SHQ pode ser uma ferramenta útil na avaliação do estado de saúde de populações de pacientes com sarcoidose em vários países de língua não inglesa.

Effects of penicillin and erythromycin on adherence of invasive and noninvasive isolates of Streptococcus pyogenes to laminin

This study investigated the possible relationship between the invasiveness of group A Streptococcus (GAS) strains and their abilities to adhere to laminin and assessed the effects of subinhibitory concentrations of penicillin and erythromycin on the ability of GAS to adhere to laminin. The adherence of noninvasive and highly invasive isolates of GAS to laminin was significantly higher than the adherence displayed by isolates of low invasiveness. Antibiotic treatment caused significant reductions in adherence to laminin in all three groups of strains. Penicillin was more successful in reducing the adherence abilities of the tested GAS strains than erythromycin.