Background:In the past 2 decades, there has been increasing interest in calprotectin. It is released and detected in serum and body fluids as a potentially useful clinical inflammatory marker. The protein has been described in synovial tissue in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, specifically in the lining layer adjacent to the cartilage–pannus junction, which is the primary site of cartilage destruction and bone erosion. Assessment of inflammatory activity in RA is of pivotal importance for the optimal treatment. Our aim in this study is to measure the serum calprotectin levels in RA patients and to assess its association—if there is any—with disease activity score and radiological findings using the musculoskeletal ultrasound.Patients and methods:In our case control study, we included 44 RA patients (Group I) and 20 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers who served as the control group (Group II). Both groups were subjected to full history taking and thorough clinical examination. Assessment of RA disease activity state was done for all RA patients using the Disease Activity Score 28. Laboratory investigations included the measurement of complete blood cell count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, rheumatoid factor, anticitrullinated peptide antibodies, kidney, liver functions; serum calprotectin levels were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and radiological joint assessment was done using musculoskeletal ultrasound score.Results:There was a statistically significant elevation of serum calprotectin levels among RA patients when compared with healthy controls. Statistically significant correlations were also found between serum calprotectin and the ultrasound grading score, Disease Activity Score 28, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate, which reflect the degree of inflammatory activity in the affected joints in RA patients. Moreover, the study yielded a significant correlation between serum calprotectin levels and rheumatoid autoantibodies (rheumatoid factor and anticitrulli-nated peptide antibodies), which are strong predictors of the aggressiveness of the disease. Serum calprotectin at a cutoff level of 93.9 μg/dL had 88.6% sensitivity and 100% specificity for diagnosis of RA.Conclusion:Calprotectin was found to have high association with laboratory and ultrasonography markers of inflammation in RA patients, so it is recommended for use as a marker of inflammatory activity in RA patients especially for the follow-up of patients on biological therapy to assess its efficacy.

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Background Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune multi-systemic disease with predominant affection of connective tissue. Skin is characteristically affected in SSc and is almost responsible for oral complications as well as aesthetic changes which affect the patient’s oral health-related quality of life. The Mouth Handicap in Systemic Sclerosis (MHISS) Questionnaire is the first tool to subjectively calculate the handicap associated with mouth disability in SSc patients. This study aimed to test for reliability, the validity of the Arabic version of the MHISS to be used in Arabian systemic sclerosis. Results This study was conducted on 38 females with SSc with a mean age of 48.7 ± 5.01 years and a mean disease duration of 6.23 ± 3.14 years—18 patients (47.4%) have diffuse SSc while 20 (52.6%) have localised SSc. The mean value of the total MHISS for SSc patients was 12.21 ± 3.51, test–retest reliability of the Arabic version was excellent (ICC = 0.991) with excellent internal consistency (Chronbach’s α = 0.892) with significant negative correlation with mouth opening (r = − 0.512, p < 0.05) and no correlation with the Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI). Conclusion Our results demonstrated that the Arabic version of the MHISS questionnaire had excellent test–retest reliability and very good validity in measuring mouth disabilities in Arabian SSc patients.

Background Subclinical inflammation at entheseal level has been detected in patients with psoriasis without previous history of arthropathy or Psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Ultrasound (US) is a valid and sensitive tool for the assessment of inflammatory involvement at entheseal level in PsA patients. Objective To detect subclinical arthritis or enthesitis at distal interphalangeal (DIP) fingers and nail unit changes in psoriatic patient for early detection of PsA Patients and Methods This study included 30 adult psoriatic patients and 30 healthy matched controls. All underwent history, clinical examination, Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI), Nail Psoriasis Severity Index (NAPSI) score calculation and musculoskeletal US both grey and power Doppler (PD) assessed at enthesis of extensor digitorum tendon insertion at distal phalanx, DIP joints from 2nd to 5th finger bilaterally examined for detection of synovitis and over the nail for morpho-structural evaluation. Results Patient’s ages ranged from 18-65 years and controls 20-60 years (mean ±SD 45.07 ± 13.52, 38.37 ± 11.96 respectively), male to female ratio 1:2. DIP joint affection in the form of synovial hypertrophy and effusion with PD was found in 13.3% of cases. Enthesophyte with PD in 56.7% of cases. On comparison between NAPSI score by clinical examination versus US examination, the sensitivity of US was 100%, all cases clinically positive by NAPSI were positively affected by US (20 cases). Also 30% of cases were negative by NAPSI and were positive by US (7cases). Three cases were negative by both NAPSI and US. A significant positive correlation was observed between disease duration and NAPSI Score (r = 0.429, pvalue&lt;0.05), similarly between presence of enthesophyte with PD and PASI Score (r = 0.547, pvalue&lt;0.02). Conclusion Detection of subclinical enthesopathy at DIP joint by ultrasound is not infrequent, so it is an important tool for examining enthesis in psoriatic patients. The presence of a high PASI score and long disease duration could be considered as predictive parameters for the presence of psoriatic enthesitis ongoing to arthritis.