Efficacy of sulfasalazine for the prevention of Pneumocystis pneumonia in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: A multicentric self-controlled case series study.

INTRODUCTION: Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) is an opportunistic lung infection and has been reported among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). An animal study revealed that sulfasalazine enhances Pneumocystis clearance from the lung by accelerating macrophage activity. METHODS: The self-controlled case series (SCCS) method was used to investigate the association between sulfasalazine use and PCP development in patients with RA without the effect of time-invariant, interpatient confounders. PCP episodes which developed in patients with RA at five hospitals between 2003 and 2019 were identified. PCP was defined by the following criteria: 1) detection of Pneumocystis jirovecii in respiratory specimens by polymerase chain reaction; 2) clinical symptoms (pyrexia, dry cough, dyspnea or hypoxia); 3) diffuse interstitial infiltrate on chest imaging; and 4) absence of PCP prophylaxis. The PCP incidence rate ratio (IRR) was compared between periods with and without sulfasalazine use by conditional Poisson regression. RESULTS: Fifty episodes of PCP were identified in 49 patients. Thirty patients received sulfasalazine at some point during their observation. While 49 episodes of PCP developed in 170.3 person-years without sulfasalazine use, only one episode of PCP developed in 103.7 person-years with sulfasalazine use. Sulfasalazine use was associated with a decreased PCP risk (adjusted IRR <0.01; 95% confidence interval <0.01-0.03) after adjusting for age and glucocorticoid, methotrexate, and tumor necrosis factor inhibitor administration. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrated a preventive effect of sulfasalazine against PCP in patients with RA.

Treatment-resistant idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease with thrombocytopenia, anasarca, fever, reticulin fibrosis, renal dysfunction, and organomegaly managed with Janus kinase inhibitors: A case report.

RATIONALE: Thrombocytopenia, anasarca, fever, reticulin fibrosis, renal dysfunction, and organomegaly (TAFRO) syndrome are nonmalignant but life-threatening systemic inflammatory disorders. However, many patients are refractory to treatment, resulting in significant morbidity and mortality. Additionally, established treatment options are unavailable. Therefore, we present 2 cases of adults with the iMCD-TAFRO syndrome refractory to initial treatment but responded to Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors with ruxolitinib. The report reveals that these rare adult cases of the refractory and treatment-resistant iMCD-TAFRO syndrome can be treated using JAK inhibitors. PATIENT CONCERNS: Case 1 is a 36-year-old previously healthy male patient who presented with fever and general fatigue for 2 weeks. Case 2 is a 42-year-old previously healthy female patient who presented with fever and general fatigue. DIAGNOSIS: The diagnosis met the 2015 criteria for TAFRO syndrome, as determined by All Japan TAFRO Syndrome Research Group in the Research Program for Intractable Disease by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) Japan. INTERVENTIONS: Treatment with tocilizumab and several immunosuppressants were ineffective. So, we performed ruxolitinib. OUTCOMES: Each patient received ruxolitinib, the general condition improved, and CRP levels decreased. LESSONS: These cases showed that ruxolitinib was effective for treatment-resistant/ refractory TAFRO syndrome. Further prospective studies are needed on using ruxolitinib with a small number of cases.

A Case of Dermatomyositis and Anti-EJ Autoantibody with Chronic Intestinal Pseudoobstruction Successfully Treated with Octreotide.

Chronic intestinal pseudoobstruction (CIPO) is a serious complication in patients with connective tissue disease (CTD) and is sometimes life-threatening or fatal despite intensive medical treatment. Here, we report a patient with dermatomyositis (DM) and anti-EJ autoantibody who developed CIPO that was improved by octreotide. Because her abdominal pain and bloatedness were so severe and persistent, we introduced octreotide to relieve symptoms. In this case, continuous intravenous administration as well as long-acting subcutaneous injection of octreotide was effective for treating CIPO.

A Case of Acute Budd-Chiari Syndrome Complicating Primary Antiphospholipid Syndrome Presenting as Acute Abdomen and Responding to Tight Anticoagulant Therapy.

A 34-year-old woman with primary antiphospholipid syndrome was admitted to the Gastroenterology Department of our hospital with fever, acute abdomen, watery diarrhea, and extremely high levels of inflammatory parameters. She had a history of left lower limb deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism and was taking warfarin potassium. Acute gastroenteritis was suspected and an antibiotic was administered, but symptoms progressed. Abdominal ultrasonography showed occlusion of the left hepatic vein and the middle hepatic vein and her D-dimer level was high. Accordingly, Budd-Chiari syndrome was diagnosed and high-dose intravenous infusion of heparin was initiated. Her abdominal symptoms improved and the levels of inflammatory parameters and D-dimer decreased rapidly. It is known that antiphospholipid syndrome can be complicated by Budd-Chiari syndrome that usually occurs as subacute or chronic onset, but acute onset is rare. It is difficult to diagnose acute Budd-Chiari syndrome complicating antiphospholipid syndrome and this complication generally has a poor outcome. However, the present case can get early diagnosis and successful treatment with tight anticoagulant therapy.

Dramatic Improvement of Subcutaneous Calcinosis by Intermittent, High-Dose Etidronate plus Cimetidine in a Patient with Juvenile Dermatomyositis.

A 17-year-old boy with juvenile dermatomyositis presented with typical skin symptoms, mild myositis, and bilateral lower limb calcinosis. His skin and muscle symptoms responded to treatment with prednisolone and azathioprine. However, calcinosis did not improve, and the patient had a limited range of knee joint motion and resultant disturbance of daily activities. Cimetidine was combined with intermittent administration of high-dose etidronate, leading to marked improvement of both subcutaneous and muscular calcinosis with no skeletal adverse reactions during a long treatment period exceeding 5 years. As a result, the range of knee joint motion has increased and performance of daily activities has improved.

A case of sarcoidosis with interstitial lung disease mimicking clinically amyopathic dermatomyositis and rapidly progressive interstitial lung disease.

Here, we report a patient with sarcoidosis who developed edematous erythema and interstitial lung disease. At the initial visit, clinically amyopathic dermatomyositis (CADM) with rapidly progressive interstitial lung disease (RP-ILD) was suspected because he had progressive dyspnea but no muscle weakness. The presence of anti-CADM-140/MDA5 autoantibodies was immediately assessed to facilitate a precise diagnosis, with negative results. Thereafter, skin and transbronchial lung biopsies revealed noncaseating granuloma with Langhans giant cells in both specimens, leading to a diagnosis of sarcoidosis. In this case, clinical features of skin and lung were unable to distinguish DM (including CADM) from sarcoidosis, but the lack of anti-CADM-140/MDA5 antibody was useful for differentiating CADM with RP-ILD mimicking sarcoidosis from bona fide sarcoidosis.

A case of rheumatoid arthritis and limited systemic sclerosis overlap successfully treated with tocilizumab for arthritis and concomitant generalized lymphadenopathy and primary biliary cirrhosis.

A 57-year-old woman with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and limited systemic sclerosis (lSSc) was suspected to have lymphadenopathy and primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). Lymph node biopsy showed reactive follicular lymphadenopathy with intrafollicular plasmacyte infiltration that was interleukin-6 positive by immunohistostaining. Because of gradually worsening arthritis, tocilizumab was administered and arthritis improved markedly. Interestingly, lymphadenopathy and PBC improved simultaneously. This suggested that interleukin-6 might play an important role in reactive lymphadenopathy and PBC associated with RA/lSSc.

Action of microparticles of heparin and alginate crosslinked gel when used as injectable artificial matrices to stabilize basic fibroblast growth factor and induce angiogenesis by controlling its release.

Alginate is an acidic polysaccharide like the glycosaminoglycans and is a candidate for use as an artificial matrix. We developed a novel alginate gel sheet that is crosslinked with heparin (H/A gel sheet) and discovered its properties of releasing biologically active basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), a representative member of the heparin-binding growth factors (HBGFs), for about 1 month in vitro and of inducing angiogenesis in vivo. In the present study, the H/A gel sheet was mechanically broken up to produce easily injectable 50- to 200 microm microparticles of the gel (H/A gel particles), the properties of which were analyzed. The H/A gel particles cumulatively released 2.8 times as much bFGF as the H/A gel sheet, despite both having the same amount of bFGF adsorbed onto their gels. In addition, the bFGF-adsorbed H/A gel particles released a significant amount of bFGF, which stimulated cellular growth in a culture of human umbilical venous endothelial cells for up to 5 weeks. The subcutaneous injection of the bFGF-adsorbed H/A gel particles induced the formation of numerous microvessels in the tissue surrounding the gel. These results indicate that the H/A gel particles not only stabilize bFGF by preventing the occurrence of proteolysis or denaturation but also modulate its release from the gel. Because the H/A gel particles can be easily injected into the target tissues, this artificial matrix may be useful for the local delivery of HBGFs in the treatment of ischemic arterial diseases, as well as for regenerating or constructing tissues.