Question

Xirui, a 34 year old female, is at the doctor primarily due to joint pain. As you chat with Xirui, she explains, “For a couple months now I’ve been getting these occasional ‘attacks’ of joint pain. I remember one time I drove home from school and then the joint pain came on. I could barely move my wrists and shoulders, and had to sit in my car waiting for the pain to go away. It kept on, so I had to very slowly make my way from the garage to my apartment, trying not to extend my arms too much. This isn’t happening all the time, but it seems to be occurring more and more frequently. To be honest, it’s completely exhausting and I realized I need some help. I’ve also been getting these occasional rashes on my skin, though I don’t suppose that’s related.”

You notice that some of Xirui’s joints indeed appear a bit inflamed and you order some tests. Below are the most relevant results:

Blood Test	Xirui’s Results
CBC	RBC: Low Platelets: Low
ANA	Positive

how could clearance deficiency eventually cause the joint pain a patient is experiencing?

Answer 1

Clearance deficiency is impaired clearance of dying cells which leads to a potential pathway for the development of this systemic autoimmune disease and this includes deficient phagocytic activity and scant serum components in addition to increased apoptosis.

Usually, systemic lupus erythematosus is associated with defects in apoptotic clearance and the damaging effects caused by apoptotic debris.ie, when apoptotic material is not removed properly by phagocytes, they are captured instead by antigen-presenting cells which then leads to development of antinuclear antibodies. The anti nuclaer antibodies results in inflammation and can lead to swollen and joints.

Hope this helps you. Thank you ?