Background: For patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc), hand involvement is an underrated clinical manifestation. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of a hand exercise program and to demonstrate its effect on hand function, quality of life, anxiety, and depression in patients with SSc. Methods: This study was designed as a single blind, randomized controlled comparative study. Sixty-two female patients with SSc were randomized into an exercise group (n = 32) or a control group (n = 30). After some were lost to follow-up, 25 patients were analyzed in each group. In the exercise group, the 8-week intervention consisted of isometric hand exercises and self-administered stretching repeated 10 times/2 sets per day. All patients were assessed using the Hand Mobility in Scleroderma (HAMIS) test, the Duruoz Hand Index (DHI), grip strength, the 36-item short form, Health Assessment Questionnaire–Disability Index (HAQ-DI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) at baseline and then again 4 and 8 weeks later. Within-group comparisons over time were analyzed using the Friedman test. Post hoc analysis was performed using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. A multiple linear regression analysis was used to define the impact of exercise on clinical status. Results: Of the 50 total patients, the median age and the median body mass index were 55.5 years and 25.9 kg/m². The median disease duration was 10.0 years. Thirty-four patients (68.0%) were diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis (dcSSC), whereas 16 (32.0%) were limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis (lcSSc). The primary outcome of handgrip strength, as well as the HAMIS, DHI, HAQ-DI, and BDI, significantly improved over time (p < 0.001, p < 0.001, p < 0.001, p < 0.001, and p = 0.005, respectively). The between-group comparison indicated significant improvement in DHI, handgrip strength, HAQ-DI, BAI, and BDI in the exercise group (p = 0.02, p = 0.013, p < 0.001, p = 0.015, and p = 0.036, respectively). In the multiple linear regression analysis, exercise was found to be the most efficient factor affecting the improvement in HAMIS, DHI, HAQ-DI, and grip strength. Conclusions: The 8-week intervention composed of isometric hand exercises and self-administered stretching provided a significant improvement in handgrip strength, general health, quality of life, and psychological status for patients with SSc.

Purpose: Immunization is one of the main components of preventive medicine measures. Influenza, pneumococcal, tetanus, and shingles vaccines are recommended for older adults routinely. This study aimed to show the knowledge and attitudes of the physicians to older adults’ vaccination schemes. Patients and Methods: An electronic self-reported questionnaire was sent to physicians between March and July 2021 in Turkey. Sociodemographic characteristics, professional experience, area of expertise, and practice setting of the participants were recorded. As multiple-choice questions; the routinely recommended vaccines, and vaccines suggested in their daily practice before and after the COVID-19 pandemic were enquired. Results: A total of 435 participants were included in the study. 43.9% of the patients were primary family physicians, and 36.8% were internists. 63.4% of the participants had reported reviewing the National Vaccination Scheme. 94.5% of the medical doctors indicated that they had recommended any vaccination to their patients. 20.9% of the practitioners could select four or five of the routinely recommended vaccines. Reviewing the National Adult Vaccination Scheme and being an internist were positively related to predicting the recommended vaccines. The recommendation rates of influenza and pneumococcal conjugate (PCV13) were seen at 88% and 78%, respectively. Except for PCV13, recommendation rates of other routine vaccines were decreased after the pandemic. Conclusion: Awareness of routine vaccination schedules should be improved among health-care professionals, and reminders for immunization should be provided periodically in each health-care setting.

Background/aim: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease affecting mostly small joints, such as hand and foot joints symmetrically with irreversible joint destruction. In this study, the relationship between CD39 expression and the treatment response of RA patients was examined to investigate its potential as a biomarker that demonstrates treatment response. Materials and methods: This study included 77 RA patients and 40 healthy controls (HC). The RA patients were divided into 2 groups based on their response to RA treatment, those with a good response to methotrexate (MTX) monotherapy and those with an inadequate response based on the American College of Rheumatology and the European League Against Rheumatism response criteria. Various immunological parameters and Disease Activity Score in 28 Joints (DAS28) were examined between the groups using the Student?s t-test. Results: The monocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cell (M-MDSC) percentage was higher in the RA patient group versus the HC group. The CD39 expression in the T lymphocytes were higher in patients that responded well to the MTX compared to those showing inadequate response. Additionally, s negative correlation was found between the DAS28 and CD39 in the T cells. Conclusion: The results showed that the improvement in treatment response to the therapy in RA patients could be because of the enhancement in the CD39/adenosine (ADO) pathway. Therefore, therapies targeting the CD39/ADO pathway in T cells may improve RA treatments.

Introduction: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a multisystemic disease. Thyroid involvement in systemic sclerosis is an overlooked issue. Our study aimed to evaluate the decreased thyroid volume in SSc. Also, we aimed to show the relationship between patients' thyroid volume and clinical and laboratory parameters. Method: This was a single-center, cross-sectional study. Eighty-six patients were included in the study. A radiologist evaluated patients' thyroid volumes by ultrasonography. Demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients were recorded. Skin thickness was evaluated by the modified Rodnan skin score (mRSS) and the disease severity by the Medsger severity score (MSS). Findings were analyzed statistically. Results: Thyroid volume was in the atrophic range in 53.5% of the patients. There was a significant negative correlation between thyroid volume and mRSS, MSS, and disease duration. Logistic regression analysis showed that mRSS and disease duration were risk factors for thyroid atrophy. Conclusions: Many studies point out that thyroid autoantibodies are a cause of thyroid dysfunction in patients with SSc. However, in most of these studies, thyroid volume was not evaluated. As a result of our study, we saw that the major cause of thyroid dysfunction in our SSc patients was thyroid atrophy. Also, we observed that thyroid atrophy was more common in patients with interstitial lung disease. We would like to draw attention to the fact that thyroid dysfunction and volume changes increase with the disease's duration and severity in systemic sclerosis.