Response to ustekinumab in three pediatric patients with alopecia areata.

Alopecia areata (AA) is relatively common and can have a significant impact on quality of life, especially in a pediatric population. Currently available treatments are often ineffective or have poor safety profiles. Recent studies have highlighted the importance of the Th1 pathway in the pathogenesis of AA, suggesting ustekinumab as a treatment modality for this disease. We present three pediatric AA patients who demonstrated hair regrowth after initiating ustekinumab.

Eosinophilic annular erythema treated with dupilumab.

Eosinophilic annular erythema is a rare, benign, recurrent condition characterized by annular skin lesions, tissue eosinophilia, and resistance to a variety of treatments. There are fewer than 30 cases reported in the English literature, 7 of which are in children. We present a case of recurrent eosinophilic annular erythema in an adolescent that was successfully treated with dupilumab, an interleukin-4 receptor alpha antagonist.

The association of cholesterol absorption gene Numb polymorphism with Coronary Artery Disease among Han Chinese and Uighur Chinese in Xinjiang, China.

BACKGROUND: Hypercholesterolemia is a major risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD). As Numb is an important regulating factor for intestinal cholesterol absorption and plasma cholesterol level, the aim of the present study is to assess the association between human Numb gene polymorphism and CAD among Han and Uighur Chinese. METHODS: We have conducted two independent case-control studies in Han Chinese (384 CAD patients and 433 controls) and Uighur Chinese (506 CAD patients and 351 controls) subjects. All subjects were genotyped for four kinds of SNPs (rs12435797, rs2108552, rs1019075 and rs17781919) and SNP is used as a genetic marker for human Numb gene. Genotyping was undertaken using TaqMan SNP genotyping assay, and the subjects' ethnicity and gender were considered in the analysis. RESULTS: We found that rs2108552 was associated with CAD in the dominant model (CC vs CG + GG) for the total Han Chinese population (n = 200) and Han Chinese males (n = 115) (P = 0.004 and P = 0.001, respectively). The difference remained statistically significant after multivariate adjustment (total: OR = 1.687, P = 0.004; male: OR = 1.498, P = 0.006). Further, for the total (n = 817) and male (n = 490) Han Chinese, the frequency of the haplotype (T-C-T-C) was significantly higher in the CAD patients than in the controls (P = 0.004 and P = 0.002), and the frequency of the haplotype (G-G-T-C) was significantly lower in the CAD patients than in the control subjects (P = 0.013, P = 0.007). In addition, for the total (n = 857) and male (n = 582) Uighur Chinese, we observed that rs12435797 was associated with CAD in an additive and recessive model (P = 0.021 and P = 0.009; P = 0.048 and P = 0.034). However, the difference did not remain statistically significant after multivariate adjustment. The overall distribution of rs2108552, rs1019075 and rs17781919 genotypes, alleles and the frequency of the haplotype established by four SNPs showed no significant difference between CAD patients and control subjects in the total, male and female Uighur Chinese. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicate that CC genotype of rs2108552 and T-C-T-C haplotypes in Numb gene is a possible risk genetic marker and G allele and G-G-T-C haplotypes is a possible protective genetic marker for CAD in male Han Chinese.

Genetic variants of numb gene were associated with elevated total cholesterol level and low density lipoprotein cholesterol level in Chinese subjects, in Xinjiang, China.

BACKGROUND: Hypercholesterolemia is one of the most common risk factors for Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), which is the leading cause of death worldwide. As Numb is an important regulating factor regarding intestinal cholesterol absorption and plasma cholesterol level, the aim of the present study is to investigate the relationship between human Numb gene polymorphism and cholesterol level in Chinese subjects. METHODS: All participants came from the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University (Male: 1052 and Female: 596), and four tagging SNPs (rs2108552, rs12435797, rs1019075 and rs17781919) of Numb gene were genotyped by using TaqMan assays and analyzed in an ABI 7900HT Fast Real-Time PCR System. Further, general liner model was applied for assessing the relationship between cholesterol level and genotypes. RESULTS: By analyzing a dominant model, recessive model and an additive model, we have found that SNP rs2108552 was associated with total cholesterol (TC) and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol level (LDL-C) (P = 0.000 and P = 0.007; P =0.042 and P =0.009; P = 0.006 and P = 0.030). C allele of SNP rs17781919 had significantly lower plasma TC level (3.46 ± 0.74 mmol/L vs 4.27 ± 1.1 mmol/L) and LDL-C level (0.98 ± 0.55 mmol/L vs 2.64 ± 0.93 mmol/L) when compared with T allele. Additionally, SNP rs12435797 was associated with TC level and SNP rs1019075 was associated with LDL-C level by analyses of a dominant model, recessive model and an additive model (P = 0.000, P = 0.005 and P = 0.004; P = 0.016, P = 0.008 and P = 0.033). Further, the association of rs2108552, rs12435797, rs1019075 and rs17781919 with aforementioned different kinds of cholesterol levels remained statistically significant after multivariate adjustment of ethnicity, gender, age, smoking and obesity. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicated that both rs2108552 and rs17781919 in the Numb gene were associated with total cholesterol level and density lipoprotein-cholesterol level in Chinese subjects.