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This study aimed to assess the frequency of all palpable lymph nodes during active disease and remission in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Hospital records of 100 SLE patients, 100 RA patients, 100 spondyloarthropathy patients, and 150 osteoarthritis patients, treated in our rheumatology department, were evaluated retrospectively. Overall frequencies of enlarged lymph nodes in patients with active RA and SLE were 82% and 69%, respectively. Enlarged lymph nodes associated with RA were mostly located in the axillary region, and in SLE the nodes were smaller and lymphadenopathy was more generalized compared with RA. Palpable lymph nodes disappeared in the majority of patients during remission. Lymphadenopathy was significantly less frequent in patients treated with steroids before admission. Lymph node enlargement is an important physical finding associated with RA and SLE disease activity. Atypical locations and unusually large lymph nodes should raise clinical suspicion of another underlying disease.

Particular interleukins, namely interleukin (IL)-6, IL-4 and IL-1, with pro-inflammatory mediator activities have also been shown to be involved in the regulation of megakaryocytopoiesis. As rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is not uncommonly associated with reactive thrombocytosis, we investigated serum IL-la, IL-1ß, IL-4 and IL-6 concentrations in RA patients with marked thrombocytosis, and compared them to the levels in RA patients with normal platelet counts and healthy volunteers. IL-1ß, IL-4 and IL-6 concentrations were found to be correlated with the disease activity in both groups of RA patients, with higher serum levels of each cytokine in the thrombocythaemic group. Significant positive correlations of IL-1ß and IL-4 with the platelet counts were documented only in patients with thrombocytosis. According to our results, IL-6 and IL-1ß were found to be good indicators of disease activity in RA, while IL-1ß and IL-4 seemed to be related more with the process of reactive thrombocytosis secondary to rheumatoid inflammation.

Sucralfate has been described as a cytoprotective agent and successfully used in the treatment of peptic ulcer, mucositis, and various types of mucosal ulcerations. In a double-blind randomized study, 35 patients with Behqet's disease having oral aphthous ulcerations were treated with topical sucralfate application or placebo. Oral aphthous ulcers were evaluated according to their number, duration, size and painfulness throughout a 12-week period. No statistically significant difference was found between the periods with and without sucralfate or placebo treatment. In conclusion, sucralfate was found to have no therapeutic or preventive effect on major or minor oral aphthous ulcers seen in patients with Behqet's disease.