title: Peripheral blood mononuclear cell microchimerism in Turkish female patients with systemic sclerosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate microchimerism (Mc) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) taken from female patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and healthy females. We also intended to research the association between Mc and the clinical subsets.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study included 50 females with lcSSc, 30 females with dcSSc and 40 healthy females. The Y-chromosome sequences were studied by RT-PCR in DNA obtained from PBMC.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mc was found in 28 (35 %) patients and 8 (20 %) healthy controls as well as in 6 dcSSc patients with son(s) (27.3 %), 10 lcSSc patients with son(s) (32.3 %) and 7 control females with son(s) (18.9 %) (p > 0.05). Mc was detected in 6 nulliparous lcSSc patients (31.6 %) and in 1 nulliparous dcSSc patient (11.1 %) (p > 0.05). The mean time elapsed between the first pregnancy and the diagnosis of SSc was 3.5 (0-49) years in the Mc-positive patients and 14 (0-55) years in the negative patients (p = 0.020). The mean modified Rodnan skin scores (ModRSS) of the patients with and without Mc was 10 (4-24) and 13 (4-26), respectively (p = 0.038). The relationship between Mc and the system involvement, disease severity, autoantibody profile, number of children and age of children was not found.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Various etiological factors rather than just one play a role in the development of scleroderma. Mc is thought to be one factor that shortens the elapsed time of disease development in SSc. Mc is inversely related to the ModRSS, and no association was detected between Mc and autoantibodies or the clinical subsets.
authors.affiliation: Division of Rheumatology, Sanliurfa Education and Research Hospital , 63100 Sanliurfa , Turkey.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sahin
authors.forename: Tülin
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ozkan
authors.forename: Nuran
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Türkçapar
authors.forename: Orhan
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Küçükşahin
authors.forename: Elif Berna
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Köksoy
authors.forename: Gülşah
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ozturk
authors.forename: Sükran
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Erten
authors.forename: Asuman
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sunguroğlu
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Turgay
authors.forename: Gülay
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kınıklı
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D046528:Chimerism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000378:metabolism*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010298:Parity; D011247:Pregnancy; D012595:Scleroderma, Systemic / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies