Background: Infectious agents are important in the pathogenesis of autoimmune disease since they are a major part of the environmental trigger of autoimmunity. A negative relationship between latitude and infectious disease species richness has been suggested.

Objectives: To examine whether their prevalence differs in two latitudinally different populations.

Methods: The prevalence of infections with Toxoplasma gondii, rubella virus, cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus and Treponema pallidum was compared between subjects from Italy and Colombia.

Results: We found high titers of antibodies against four of five microorganisms tested, Toxoplasma gondii (50.8%), rubella virus (German measles) (75%), cytomegalovirus (86.3%), Epstein-Barr virus (83.3%) and Treponema pallidum (6.3%) in completely healthy individuals from a tropical country (Colombia) and a European country (Italy). Differences between two groups of volunteers were noted regarding two infectious agents. The prevalence of immunoglobulin G anti-rubella antibodies was significantly higher among Italian subjects (85% vs. 67.9%, P = 0.002), whereas antibodies against CMV[1] were less prevalent among Italian as compared to Colombian subjects (77% vs. 92.9%, P < 0.001).

Conclusions: These differences might also result in a different tendency towards development of autoimmune diseases associated with these infectious agents in different populations.

Chronic fatigue syndrome is a heterogeneous disorder with unknown pathogenesis and etiology, characterized by disabling fatigue, difficulty in concentration and memory, and concomitant skeletal and muscular pain. Several mechanisms have been suggested to play a role in CFS[1], such as excessive oxidative stress following exertion, immune imbalance characterized by decreased natural killer cell and macrophage activity, immunoglobulin G subclass deficiencies (IgG-1[2], IgG-3) and decreased serum concentrations of complement component. Autoantibodies were also suggested as a possible factor in the pathogenesis of CFS. Recent studies indicate that anti-serotonin, anti-microtubule-associated protein 2 and anti-muscarinic cholinergic receptor 1 may play a role in the pathogenesis of CFS. It has been demonstrated that impairment in vasoactive neuropeptide metabolism may explain the CFS symptoms

Background: Endothelial dysfunction is recognized as a major factor in the development of atherosclerosis and it has a prognostic value.

Objectives: To detect the long-term association of peripheral vascular endothelial function and clinical outcome in healthy subjects and patients with cardiovascular disease.

Methods: We prospectively assessed brachial artery flow-mediated dilation in 110 consecutive subjects (46 CVD[1] patients and 64 healthy controls), mean age 57 ± 11 years; 68 were men. After an overnight fast and discontinuation of all medications for ≥ 12 hours, percent improvement in FMD and nitroglycerin-mediated vasodilatation were assessed using high resolution ultrasound.

Results: %FMD[2] but not %NTG[3] was significantly lower in CVD patients (9.5 ± 8.0% vs. 13.5 ± 8.0%, P = 0.012) compared to healthy controls (13.4 ± 8.0% vs. 16.7 ± 11.0%, P = 0.084; respectively). In addition, an inverse correlation between %FMD and the number of traditional CVD risk factors was found among all study participants (r = -0.23, P = 0.015) and healthy controls (r = -0.23, P = 0.036). In a mean follow-up of 15 ± 2 months, the composite CVD endpoints (all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction, hospitalization for heart failure or angina pectoris, stroke, coronary artery bypass grafting and percutaneous coronary interventions) were significantly more common in subjects with FMD < 6% compared to subjects with FMD > 6% (33.3% vs. 12.1%, P < 0.03, respectively).
Conclusions: Thus, brachial artery %FMD provides important prognostic information in addition to that derived from traditional risk factor assessment

Background: Heat shock proteins are highly conserved immunodominant antigens found in various species. Humoral immune responses to mycobacterial HSP65[1] and human HSP60 have been established in a number of human autoimmune diseases.

Objective: To assess the prevalence of antibodies to HSP60 kDa and HSP65 kDa in patients with Sjogren's syndrome as compared to normal subjects.

Methods: Thirty-seven patients with SS[2] were compared with normal controls. The antibodies against human HSP60 were measured by the Anti-Human (IgG/IgM) HSP60 ELISA kit. IgGs[3] and IgMs to mycobacterial HSP65 were determined using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with mycobacterial recombinant HSP65 antigens.

Results: The levels of both anti-HSP60 and -HSP65 were lower among patients compared with controls. IgG autoantibodies to HSP60 were significantly different between groups: 162 ± 55.1 ng/ml in controls versus 112.3 ± 30.6 ng/ml in SS patients (P < 0.001). The levels among controls of anti-HSP65 IgM isotype were also significantly higher than among patients: 111.6 ± 33.4 U/ml versus 96.1 ± 8.9 U/ml (P = 0.01).

Conclusions: The results of the present study show that the levels of different isotypes of anti- HSP60 and HSP65 antibodies were lower in patients with SS than in normal subjects. Additional studies on larger patient populations are required to evaluate the prevalence of these autoantibodies in SS patients.

Objectives: To determine the effectiveness of a neuroreflexology-based screening test, specifically the Medex device (Medex Screen Ltd.), for diagnosing patients undergoing conventional internal organ assessment, in a hospital setting.

Methods: Patients admitted to an internal medicine department, who met the inclusion criteria and agreed to participate, underwent conventional medical evaluation that included past medical history and physical examination. Another examination was conducted by a second physician using the Medex device to determine internal organ pathologies. A third researcher compared the actual “conventional” diagnosis with the Medex device output using standard statistical analysis.   

Results: Overall, 150 patients participated in the study. Correlation was significant for all categories (P < 0.01) except for blood and lymphatic disease. A high sensitivity (>70%) was measured for cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal and genitourinary diseases. The highest measure of agreement, as represented by the Cohen-Kappa factor, was found for respiratory disease (0.57).

Conclusions: Although the exact mechanism is not entirely clear, measurement of electroskin impedance of dermal-visceral zones has the potential to serve as a screening tool for inner organ pathologies. Further research should be conducted to create more evidence to support or dispute the use of this technique as a reliable diagnostic tool.