BioMed Central Blog

Why are women predisposed to autoimmune rheumatic diseases?

In the current issue of Arthritis Research & Therapy, Jacqueline Oliver and Alan Silman explore the various factors that influence susceptibility to the major autoimmune connective tissue disorders, in search for an explanation for the high female-to-male predisposition ratio.

Autoimmune diseases of all organ sites and systems affect approximately 8% of the population, around 78% of whom are women.  The majority of studies into this female predominance have focused on examining the affect of hormonal fluctuations on disease risk.

Oliver and Silman provide a detailed review of these hormonal influences, as well as genetics and gender differences in lifestyle factors, focusing on rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus and scleroderma. The authors convey the complexity of autoimmune disease susceptibility and the need for further studies to disentangle the many contributing factors.

Review   
Why are women predisposed to autoimmune rheumatic diseases?
Jacqueline E Oliver, Alan J Silman
Arthritis Research & Therapy 2009, 11:252 (26 October 2009)
[Abstract] [Full text] [PDF]

The commissioned reviews published in Arthritis Research & Therapy's regular issues usually require a subscription for access, but a free 30-day trial is available. Moreover, recipients of the BioMed Central Update, in which Arthritis Research & Therapy features regularly, are provided with unique opportunities to freely access subscription review content published in BMC journals. Register for the Update here, or alternatively, recommend the journal to your librarian via the website.

Abigail Jones
Senior Assistant Editor - Arthritis Research & Therapy

Posted by Iain Hrynaszkiewicz at 12:32    Comments (0)

Automated Experimentation - a new independent, open access journal

Automated Experimentation launched today, providing a new platform for biomedical and informatics researchers to revise, re-use and recombine their automated experimentation processes or protocols. With recent advances in engineering, laboratory robotics and informatics, the automation of experiments are becoming increasingly important for expediting large-scale research, particularly in areas such as systems biology and translational medicine.

“Our aim is to bring together the diverse forms of automated experimentation and, by studying them in an abstract but practical way, understand how they generalise across domains”, say Editors-in-Chief, Siu-Wai Leung, Dave Robertson and Dietlind Gerloff in their launch Editorial, concluding, “In this way we hope Automated Experimentation will promote new styles of computationally inspired experimental thinking.”

Please view the journal website to read the first three articles published in Automated Experimentation. If you would like to know when new articles are published in the journal, please sign up for article alerts

Posted by Anne Braae at 12:21    Comments (0)

Speedy diagnosis for mitochondrial disorders

A team led by Sihoun Hahn and Jay Shendure from Seattle Children’s Research Institute and the University of Washington present a molecular diagnostic tool for mitochondrial disease in their article titled “Next generation sequence analysis for mitochondrial disorders”, recently published in Genome Medicine. This is the 100th article published in Genome Medicine, BioMed Central’s premier medical journal, since its launch in January 2009.

Next-generation sequencing technologies herald an era when personal genome information may be used to guide medical decisions. While complete genome sequences are not yet cost-effective for routine clinical use, methods which target specific genomic regions have already become practical for disease diagnosis.  

The method described by Hahn and colleagues uses array-based technology and genetic sequencing to screen patients’ DNA for variations in 362 genes which have been associated with mitochondrial disease or mitochondrial function. Thanks to its lower cost and faster turnaround, this approach could replace the protracted tests currently needed to determine some rare mitochondrial mutations and it may also lead to discovery of new mutations and genes which affect mitochondrial function.

Genome Medicine publishes high-quality genomic and post-genomic research that significantly advances our understanding and management of human health and disease.  Thanks to the active involvement of exceptional section editors and editorial board members, Genome Medicine has published a wide range of research articles, reviews, meeting reports and commentaries in the past ten months, and we look forward to continued growth and involvement with the research community.

Read the article by Hahn and colleagues, register for article updates and submit your next outstanding research manuscript to Genome Medicine.  For quick feedback on the suitability of your manuscript, we welcome presubmission enquiries.

Rebecca Furlong
Assistant Editor, Genome Medicine

Posted by Rebecca Furlong at 10:49    Comments (0)