A 59-year-old woman was brought into the rheumatology unit. Extremely severe case of scleroderma is suspected. Objectively she presents with malnourishment, "mask-like" lace, and acro-osteolysis. Blood: erythrocytes - 2.2 × 109/L, erythrocyte sedimentation rate 40 mm/hour. Urine: elevated levels of free Oxyproline. Name one of the most likely pathogenetic links in this case:

Answer options

1. Formation of antibodies to vessel wall
2. Formation of antibodies to transversal striated muscles
3. Formation of antibodies to native DNA
4. Formation of antibodies to collagen
5. Formation of antibodies to blood corpus

Explanation

A 59-year-old woman was brought into the rheumatology unit. Extremely severe case of scleroderma is suspected. Objectively she presents with malnourishment, mask-like lace, and acro-osteolysis. Blood: erythrocytes 22. 10°, erythrocyte sedimentation rate 40 mm/hour. Urine: elevated levels of free Oxyproline. Name one of the most likely pathogenetic links in this case:Oxyproline is one of the major collagen amino acids, which enables it to be regarded as a marker that reflects the catabolism of this protein. The purpose of this investigation was to ascertain the diagnostic value of free oxyproline in patients with hereditary and acquired collagenases.