Diabetic nephropathy is the major cause of severe renal impairment and even chronic terminal renal failure requiring dialysis. Blood viscosity is clearly modified in diabetic patients, and particularly in those with severe renal impairment The purpose of this study is to highlight blood viscosity values at different shear rates in patients with diabetic nephropathy compared to the control group. There is a significant increase in blood viscosity in patients with definite renal impairment.

The use of biological therapies may have positive impact on chronic renal disease associated with rheumatoid arthritis. The study evaluates retrospectively renal function in 57 patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with different types of biological therapy, comparative with 62 RA patients treated conservatively with DMARDs. Patients treated with biological therapies presented a lower mean value for serum creatinine measured both at baseline and after 6 months of treatment, statistically significant compared with the subgroup treated with DMARDs (0.69 ± 0.17 mg/dL vs. 1.18 ± 1.01 mg/dL, p = 0.003). Results for estimated filtration rate were significantly increased in biologically treated cohort (100.36 ± 16.76 mL/min/1.73 m2 vs. 63.49 ± 21.60 mL/min/1.73 m2, p < 0.00001). Rituximab presented a better estimated filtration rate compared with other biological tharapies (eGFR 97.037 mL/min/1.73 m2 vs. 90.933 mL/min/1.73 m2). The positive effect of potent biological anti-inflammatory therapies sustains the need of further exploring the risk of reduced kidney function in immune-mediated diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis.

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some machine learning algorithms for sex identification based on linear mandibular measurements derived from CT scans .

Introduction: Smoking is the environmental factor that plays the most important role in the etiology of rheumatoid arthritis and the only one that can be changed. In rheumatoid arthritis patients, smoking results in erosive, rapidly progressive, poor therapeutic response. There are studies suggesting that auto antibodies (rheumatoid factor and anti citrullinated protein antibodies) production is triggered by exposure to smoking, thus contributing to rheumatoid arthritis. Objectives: In this study we have proposed to analyze the effects of smoking on the rheumatoid arthritis. Methods: We evaluated 285 patients with RA admitted to Department of Rheumatology, Clinical Emergency Hospital “St. Andrew”, Constanţa during January-December 2013. Demographics of patients and data on the onset and progression of RA were followed. We were particularly interested in the data related to the rheumatoid arthritis prognostic factors as they were established and published by the Romanian Rheumatology Society. Conclusion: Smoking influences the onset of rheumatoid arthritis, the seropositivity, the presence of extraarticular manifestations, the acute phase reactants and the number of swollen joints. We can therefore conclude that smoking is an unfavorable prognostic factor for rheumatoid arthritis, influencing both the onset and its evolution.