Hironari Hanaoka

An ultrastructural study of the distal femoral epiphyseal-metaphyseal junction of C3H mice revealed that the hypertrophic chondrocytes undergo degenerative changes leading to their death. While most chondrocytes will die before their lacunae are opened to the marrow, others survive for a time in lacunae which communicate with the primary spongiosa, but they also ultimately die. There was no evidence to indicate that hypertrophic chondrocytes survive or are transformed into other cells.

A unique tTreg subset with dichotomic immunoregulatory and T helper 17 phenotypes is increased in the circulation of SLE patients and may be involved in the pathogenic process of SLE.

Objective Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) was not approved in Japan until 2015, and its therapeutic potential has not been explored in depth. We evaluated the additional therapeutic effect of HCQ in Japanese patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) on maintenance therapy. Methods Patients with SLE who visited our hospital from 2015 to 2016 and were taking prednisolone (PSL) at <20 mg/day were retrospectively evaluated. All patients were divided into three groups according to their maintenance t

Up-regulated CXCR4 expression on circulating B cells in active SLE may enhance their chemotactic response toward CXCL12, which may promote infiltration of these cells into inflamed renal tissue and contribute to the development of SLE.

Lack of PR at week 12 predicts a lower likelihood of achieving CR at 3 years and a higher SDI.

Controlling inflammation contributes to the inhibition of CKD progression in RA patients.

The recent recommendations for the management of lupus nephritis suggest that racial background should be considered while choosing induction therapy. However, the responses to different induction regimens have been poorly studied in Japanese population. Here, we assessed the renal response to different induction therapies in Japanese patients with lupus nephritis class III or IV. The records of 64 patients with biopsy-proven lupus nephritis class III or IV were retrospectively evaluated accordi

Antibodies against double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) are widely used to diagnose systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and evaluate its activity in patients. This study was undertaken to examine the clinical utility of circulating anti-dsDNA antibody-secreting cells for evaluating SLE patients. Anti-dsDNA antibody-secreting cells quantified using an enzyme-linked immunospot assay were detected in the spleen, bone marrow and peripheral blood from MRL/lpr but not in control BALB/c mice. Circulating anti-ds

Because both Fabry's disease and granulomatosis with polyangiitis or crescentic glomerulonephritis are rare diseases, their concurrence in this and related cases suggests there may be a pathogenic link between these two conditions. Fabry's disease may be underdiagnosed, particularly in cases of granulomatosis with polyangiitis or crescentic glomerulonephritis.

We determined the clinical utility of the direct Coombs' test in the absence of hemolytic anemia as an indicator of disease activity and therapeutic response in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). SLE patients without hemolytic anemia who visited our hospital from January 2016 to November 2016 were retrospectively evaluated with a direct Coombs' test. Clinical features, including SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI), treatment and laboratory findings were analyzed. For patients with lupus nephrit

Achieving CR at 3 months after induction therapy may predict CR at 3 years, reduced organ damage, and a low incidence of disease flare for 10 years.

The prevalence of anti-SRP antibody was 0.5% in a cohort of Japanese patients with CTD, and one-third of them did not have inflammatory myopathy. Sera from patients with inflammatory myopathy recognized SRP54 more strongly than in those without myopathy.