Objective. To measure serum levels of tumor necrosis factor a (TNFa) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and agematched control subjects and to study how these correlate with serum levels of hyaluronan (HA) and antigenic keratan sulfate (KS) and other biochemical as well as clinical indicators of disease activity.Methods. Immunoassays were used to measure levels of TNFa, IL-6, HA, and antigenic KS in the serum of 35 patients with RA and a group of age-and sex-matched control subjects. Clinical disease activity in the RA group was assessed using the Lansbury index. Drug intake was recorded and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and levels of fibrinogen, creatinine, biliru-_ _ From the ICP, Connective Tissue Group, and the Department

Background: Dysfunction of the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid axis has been shown to play a role in the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder. Autoimmune thyroiditis is the most common cause of thyroid function alteration. Thus, auto-immune thyroiditis is likely associated with bipolar disorder. It might influence its course, prognosis and/or management. Objective: To study the prevalence of positive anti-thyroid antibodies in patients with bipolar disorder and to examine the prognostic and the therapeutic implications of their presence. Methods: Literature was reviewed using the Medline database and the following keywords: 'bipolar disorder" 'antithyroid antibodies" 'thyroiditis". Results: PubMed research returned 12 results. After manual inspection, 10 articles were retained and examined. The prevalence of positive antithyroperoxydase antibodies (anti-TPO Abs) is higher in bipolar patients than in healthy controls, reaching 27%. The presence of positive anti-TPO Abs has been associated with rapidcycling, with a higher risk of lithium-induced hypothyroidism as well as with poor prognosis. Auto-immune thyroiditis appears to be related not only to bipolar disorder itself but also to the genetic vulnerability to develop the disorder. Conclusion: The presence of anti-TPO Abs is a possible endophenotype for bipolar disorder. Anti-TPO Abs should be obtained in many patients with bipolar disorder, especially in those on lithium.

Our results confirm previous findings of ToM deficits in adult individuals with schizophrenia and attest the severity of these deficits in patients with EOS.