The paper by C Tung et al from Taiwans Taichung general veternary hospital looks into the effect of plant thorn synovitis upon arthritis sufferers in Asia.
Plant-thorn synovitis is an uncommon cause of arthritis and has not been reported in Asian countries. Zanthoxylum ailanthoides, an aromatic plant distributed in East Asia, is used as a spice in Taiwan. We reported a case of acute monoarthritis over the third metacarpo-phalangeal joint of the right hand after an injury by the thorn of the Zanthoxylum ailanthoides. A thorn foreign body of 2.7 mm in length was detected in the joint by high-resolution ultrasonography and led to a surgical synovectomy. The patient recovered completely after synovectomy. Plant-thorn synovitis is easily negligible. Early diagnosis is difficult and frequently delayed. The removal of thorn by synovectomy is the only curative treatment for plant-thorn synovitis. Compared to CT and MRI, ultrasonography is inexpensive, nonradioactive, repeatable, and easily accessible. It could detect foreign bodies that are smaller than 0.5 mm. High-resolution ultrasonography is a useful tool for detecting plant thorn and could promote early diagnosis.
The pubmed identifier for this paper is 17273812
Posted in Arthritis causes February 8th, 2007 by admin | No comments
A recent article in by Ehling and colleagues in the Journal of immunology looked into the potential that adiponectin has in driving arthritis.
Little is known about the local functions of articular adipose tissue (a ubiquitous component in human joints). Many recent publications have put forward possible links between adipocytokines, adipose tissue and arthritis. Ehling and friends looked at the ‘the adipocytokine adiponectin and its functional role in articular adipose tissue and synovium of patients with different arthritides’.
They found that ‘in contrast to its protective role in endocrinological and vascular diseases, adiponectin was found to be involved in key pathways of inflammation and matrix degradation in the human joint’
and that ‘ the effects of adiponectin in human synovial fibroblasts appear to be highly selective by inducing only two of the main mediators of rheumatoid arthritis pathophysiology, IL-6 and matrix metalloproteinase-1, via the p38 MAPK pathway’.
This led them to suggest that adipocytokines may be key targets in future therapeutic strategies in inflammatory joint diseases.
The full article is availble form pubmed PMID: 16547285 [PubMed - in process]
Posted in Arthritis causes March 21st, 2006 by admin | No comments
One of the consequences of infections of native joints is the development of suppurative arthritis. It is estimated that between two and five people in every hundred thousand of the general public will develop septic arthritis, this increases to around 35 people per hundred thousand in rheumatoid arthritis sufferers and to as high as 68 people in people who suffer from joint prostheses. Some of the events that precede this trauma include intravenous drug use and std’s, HIV, and diabetes. Skin infections are also often a cause of suppurative septic arthritis.
Staphylococcus aureus, may causes acute septic bursitis in up to 77% of cases. This usually occurs at the olecranon and pre-patellar bursea. Bacterial arthritis is also a common problem that leads to septic arthritis.
Chronic arthritis of joints is often a consequence of being infected by fungi. Some of the fungi that can cause chronic arthritis include Sporothrix schenckii (elbow, knee, wrist,) and Coccidioides immitis (knee, especially in americans). Following a trauma of the knee or elbow Pseudallescheria boydii may cause septic arthritis in tropical areas.
Posted in Arthritis causes March 13th, 2006 by admin | No comments
