Inflammatory myopathy is a form of myopathy

Myopathy

In medicine, a myopathy is a muscular disease in which the muscle fibers do not function for any one of many reasons, resulting in muscular weakness. "Myopathy" simply means muscle disease...

 that involves inflammation of the muscle.

Inflammatory myopathy is generally synonymous to the term dermatopolymyositis, which, according to ICD-10

ICD-10

The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision is a medical classification list for the coding of diseases, signs and symptoms, abnormal findings, complaints, social circumstances, and external causes of injury or diseases, as maintained by the...

 encompasses three related diseases: polymyositis

Polymyositis

Polymyositis is a type of chronic inflammation of the muscles related to dermatomyositis and inclusion body myositis.-Signs and symptoms:...

, dermatomyositis

Dermatomyositis

Dermatomyositis is a connective-tissue disease related to polymyositis and Bramaticosis that is characterized by inflammation of the muscles and the skin.- Causes :...

, and inclusion-body myositis.

Diagnosis

Inflammatory myopathy can be associated with increased ESR

Erythrocyte sedimentation rate

The erythrocyte sedimentation rate , also called a sedimentation rate or Biernacki Reaction, is the rate at which red blood cells sediment in a period of 1 hour...

 and creatine kinase

Creatine kinase

Creatine kinase , also known as creatine phosphokinase or phospho-creatine kinase , is an enzyme expressed by various tissues and cell types. CK catalyses the conversion of creatine and consumes adenosine triphosphate to create phosphocreatine and adenosine diphosphate...

.

Dermatopolymyositis can be associated with several types of autoantibodies:

• Anti-Jo1 antibodies, which is associated with a more abrupt onset of fever, cracked hands, Raynaud's phenomenon
  Raynaud's phenomenon
  In medicine, Raynaud's phenomenon is a vasospastic disorder causing discoloration of the fingers, toes, and occasionally other areas. This condition can also cause nails to become brittle with longitudinal ridges. Named for French physician Maurice Raynaud , the phenomenon is believed to be the...
  
  , interstitial lung disease, arthritis
  Arthritis
  Arthritis is a form of joint disorder that involves inflammation of one or more joints....
  
  , and a poor response to therapy. Anti-Jo1 antibodies are a type of anti-nuclear antibody
  Anti-nuclear antibody
  Anti-nuclear antibodies are autoantibodies directed against contents of the cell nucleus....
  
  . It has histidine-tRNA ligase
  Histidine-tRNA ligase
  In enzymology, a histidine-tRNA ligase is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reactionThe 3 substrates of this enzyme are ATP, L-histidine, and tRNA, whereas its 3 products are AMP, diphosphate, and L-histidyl-tRNA....
  
   as a target.
• Anti-signal recognition particle antibodies (anti-SRP), which are targeting signal recognition particle
  Signal recognition particle
  The signal recognition particle is an abundant, cytosolic, universally conserved ribonucleoprotein that recognizes and targets specific proteins to the endoplasmic reticulum in eukaryotes and the plasma membrane in prokaryotes....
  
   (SRP). Anti-SRP antibodies are mainly associated with, but are not very specific for, polymyositis
  Polymyositis
  Polymyositis is a type of chronic inflammation of the muscles related to dermatomyositis and inclusion body myositis.-Signs and symptoms:...
  
  . For individuals with polymyositis, the presence of anti-SRP antibodies are associated with more prominent muscle weakness and atrophy, and more cardiac manifestations.
• Anti-Mi-2 antibodies, which are associated with a better prognosis.