Rheumatic manifestations of current pharmacopeia.

Patient complaints arising as manifestations of medication side effects are commonly encountered in clinical practice. A rheumatologist must routinely consider side effects of drugs in the differential diagnosis of many symptoms. This review will remind the reader of certain well-described and some newly reported side effects commonly encountered in an internal medicine practice. Focal points incude arthralgias/arthritis, myopathy/myositis, ANA/drug-induced lupus, bone loss/osteoporosis, and tendon rupture.

Expression of SS-A/Ro and SS-B/La antigens in skin biopsy specimens of patients with photosensitive forms of lupus erythematosus.

CONTEXT: The reason that only some patients with lupus erythematosus (LE) develop autoantibodies to SS-A/Ro and SS-B/La antigens and photosensitivity is unknown. One hypothesis is that both events are related to the level of expression of these antigens in the skin. OBJECTIVE AND DESIGN: To test this hypothesis, we measured the expression of the 52-kd SS-A/Ro, 60-kd SS-A/Ro, and 48-kd SS-B/La antigens in normal sun-protected and sun-exposed skin in 14 patients with LE with photosensitivity, 12 patients with LE without photosensitivity, and 4 normal individuals. The presence of circulating antibodies to these antigens was measured in all patients. SETTING: Outpatient clinic in an academic medical center. RESULTS: We found that the expression of the 52-kd SS-A/Ro, 60-kd SS-A/Ro, and 48-kd SS-B/La antigens in skin biopsy specimens obtained from the same site was 4- to 10-fold higher in patients with LE with photosensitivity than in those patients with LE without photosensitivity (P<.001). Antigen expression was highly correlated with the presence and titer of circulating anti-SS-A/Ro and anti-SS-B/La antibodies (P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that photosensitivity and the presence and titer of circulating anti-SS-A/Ro and anti-SS-B/La antibodies are both directly correlated with the expression of accessible and immunoreactive SS-A/Ro and SS-B/La antigens in the skin specimens of patients with LE. Thus, the expression of these antigens in keratinocytes may be an important determinant of the development of both SS-A/Ro and SS-B/La autoantibodies and of photosensitive forms of LE.

Selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors.

The identification of COX-2 less than a decade ago has been followed by an unprecedented period of discovery and drug development. An awareness of the existence of two COX isoforms has led to potential novel insights into disease pathogenesis (arthritis, Alzheimer's disease, cancer) and the regulation of normal physiology (brain, kidney). The preliminary in vivo experience with COX-2-selective inhibitors has provided evidence for proof of concept for the COX-1 and COX-2 hypothesis, namely that the selective inhibition of COX-2-derived prostaglandins is sufficient to inhibit inflammation and is nonulcerogenic. It may be that we have moved closer to the "better aspirin" envisioned by Sir John Vane for the treatment of degenerative and inflammatory arthritides; however, caution is still warranted. Some toxicities of current NSAIDs may result from COX-2 inhibition, as in the kidney and brain; such side effects may be shared by the selective compounds. In addition, unexpected toxicities may arise simply because new chemical compounds will be widely prescribed. Finally, since the efficacy of traditional NSAIDs derives largely from their capacity to inhibit COX-2, it may be that the COX-2 selective drugs will not prove to be therapeutically superior to available agents. Given the well-recognized toxicity of NSAIDs, however, the availability of COX-2-selective agents promises to provide significant advantage to patients with chronic diseases, such as RA and OA.

Behçet-type vasculopathy in a patient without the diagnostic features of Behçet's disease.

Behçet's disease is a multisystem inflammatory disorder which may involve the vascular system. The vasculopathy of Behçet's disease is distinctive among the vasculitides in that it involves both arteries and veins, and vessels of all sizes. Most published diagnostic criteria for Behçet's disease include the classic triad of orogenital ulceration and ocular inflammation. In this report, we describe a patient who had a vasculopathy fitting the Behçet's disease type, but who lacked the other characteristic or diagnostic features of Behçet's disease. This case illustrates an unusual presentation and natural history of a complex vasculitic disease.

Rheumatoid papules in a patient with acquired immune deficiency syndrome and symmetric polyarthritis.

We describe a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and an unusual rheumatoid factor-positive symmetric inflammatory polyarthritis who met all 7 American College of Rheumatology criteria for RA, but who also had many features suggestive of seronegative inflammatory arthritis. Although cutaneous vasculitis has also been described in human immunodeficiency virus infection, this is the first report of cutaneous extravascular necrobiotic granuloma (rheumatoid papule) in AIDS. This case highlights the immunopathogenesis of inflammatory arthritis in AIDS and illustrates the difficulties in making a classic rheumatic diagnosis in the setting of the immune dysregulation caused by AIDS.