Correlation of serum IgE levels and clinical manifestations in patients with actinic prurigo.

BACKGROUND: Actinic prurigo is an idiopathic photodermatosis, the pathophysiology of which has been hypothesized to involve subtype IV type b (Th2) hypersensitive response, whereby IL4, IL5, and IL13 are secreted and mediate the production of B cells, IgE, and IgG4. OBJECTIVES: To examine the association of serum IgE levels and the clinical severity of injuries. METHODS: This case-control study comprised patients with a clinical and histopathological diagnosis of actinic prurigo, as well as clinically healthy subjects, from whom 3cc of peripheral blood was taken for immunoassay. Cases were classified by lesion severity as mild, moderate, and severe. Descriptive statistics were analyzed, and chi-square test was performed. RESULTS: We included 21 actinic prurigo patients and 21 subjects without disease; 11 patients with actinic prurigo had elevated serum IgE levels, and 10 had low serum levels. Six actinic prurigo (AP) patients with elevated serum levels of IgE had moderate injuries, 4 had severe injuries, and 1 had minor injuries. Eight out of 10 patients with normal IgE levels presented with minor injuries in the clinical evaluation. The 21 controls did not have increased serum IgE levels. CONCLUSIONS: Elevated IgE levels are associated with moderate to severe clinical lesions, suggesting that actinic prurigo entails a type IV subtype b hypersensitivity response in which Th2 cells predominate.

Correlation of serum IgE levels and clinical manifestations in patients with actinic prurigo

Abstract BACKGROUND: Actinic prurigo is an idiopathic photodermatosis, the pathophysiology of which has been hypothesized to involve subtype IV type b (Th2) hypersensitive response, whereby IL4, IL5, and IL13 are secreted and mediate the production of B cells, IgE, and IgG4. OBJECTIVES: To examine the association of serum IgE levels and the clinical severity of injuries. METHODS: This case-control study comprised patients with a clinical and histopathological diagnosis of actinic prurigo, as well as clinically healthy subjects, from whom 3cc of peripheral blood was taken for immunoassay. Cases were classified by lesion severity as mild, moderate, and severe. Descriptive statistics were analyzed, and chi-square test was performed. RESULTS: We included 21 actinic prurigo patients and 21 subjects without disease; 11 patients with actinic prurigo had elevated serum IgE levels, and 10 had low serum levels. Six actinic prurigo (AP) patients with elevated serum levels of IgE had moderate injuries, 4 had severe injuries, and 1 had minor injuries. Eight out of 10 patients with normal IgE levels presented with minor injuries in the clinical evaluation. The 21 controls did not have increased serum IgE levels. CONCLUSIONS: Elevated IgE levels are associated with moderate to severe clinical lesions, suggesting that actinic prurigo entails a type IV subtype b hypersensitivity response in which Th2 cells predominate.

[Underestimation of dermatology based on ignorance and its impact on patient's health]. / El menosprecio hacia la dermatología basado en la ignorancia y su repercusión en la salud del paciente.

With the emergence of medical specialties in different areas of medicine, assessment of patients became narrow and specialized. There is also the perception that some specialties are more difficult than others. Dermatology has long been seen by most physicians non dermatologists as a relaxed area, without real emergencies or requirement of great intellectual effort. Some specialists, erroneously think that everything can be cured with topical steroids and/or antifungal creams. Although several skin diseases are common complains seen by the general practitioner, very few time and credits are granted to cover these diseases during the years of undergraduate training. Thus, the primary care physicians and others medical specialists believe that skin diseases are not life threatening and hence irrelevant. Nonetheless, they feel competent enough to prescribe a variety of treatments for skin diseases that may lead to iatrogenesis.

Con la aparición de las especialidades en las diferentes áreas de la medicina se comenzó a notar una "fragmentación" en la forma de evaluar al paciente; también surgió la percepción de que existen algunas más difíciles que otras. La Dermatología ha sido vista durante mucho tiempo por la mayor parte de los médicos no dermatólogos como una área relajada, sin guardias, sin urgencias y que no requiere gran ejercicio intelectual. Algunos especialistas piensan que todo se "cura" con esteroides tópicos y/o antimicóticos. A pesar de que varias dermatosis son motivo frecuente de consulta para el médico general, durante los años de pregrado se concede poco tiempo y, consecuentemente, escasos créditos a esta materia, dando como resultado que los médicos y otros especialistas no den la importancia debida a las enfermedades de la piel, al no ser estas riesgosas para la salud del paciente. Sin embargo sí se atreven a tratar dichas enfermedades con tal displicencia que terminan por generar iatrogenia de todo tipo.

Actinic Prurigo.

Actinic prurigo is an idiopathic photodermatosis that affects the skin, as well as the labial and conjunctival mucosa in indigenous and mestizo populations of Latin America. It starts predominantly in childhood, has a chronic course, and is exacerbated with solar exposure. Little is known of its pathophysiology, including the known mechanisms of the participation of HLA-DR4 and an abnormal immunologic response with increase of T CD4+ lymphocytes. The presence of IgE, eosinophils, and mast cells suggests that it is a hypersensitivity reaction (likely type IVa or b). The diagnosis is clinical, and the presence of lymphoid follicles in the mucosal histopathologic study of mucosa is pathognomonic. The best available treatment to date is thalidomide, despite its secondary effects.

Actinic prurigo: a case-control study of risk factors.

BACKGROUND: Actinic prurigo (AP) is an idiopathic photodermatosis that usually onsets during childhood and predominates in women. It is characterized by the symmetrical involvement of sun-exposed areas of the skin, lips, and conjunctiva. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to analyze the risk factors associated with AP using a case-control design. METHODS: All patients diagnosed with AP during 1990-2006 at Dr. Manuel Gea González General Hospital in Mexico City were included. Respective controls were recruited. Race, demographic, geographic, socioeconomic, environmental, clinical, and nutritional risk factors were assessed. RESULTS: A total of 132 persons were enrolled. These included 44 cases and two control groups comprising, respectively, dermatology and non-dermatology outpatients without AP or any autoimmune disease. Distribution by gender, age, place of birth, place of residence, and economic status did not differ significantly among the three groups. A total of 256 variables were analyzed. Only 19 variables were found to be statistically significant (P < 0.05). These were: use of a boiler; use of firewood; car ownership; use of earthenware; mixed material housing; socioeconomic level 1; sun exposure; use of soap; lemon consumption; use of moisturizing hair cream; living with pets in the house; living with farm animals; age; having a family member with AP; having had surgery; having had trauma; having been hospitalized; use of oral medication; and use of herbal medication. Of 40 macro- and micronutrients analyzed, 11 were found to have statistically significant effects (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Multiple epidemiologic, geographic, clinical, and immunologic factors are involved in the etiology of AP. This study proposes a clear line for research directed at specific risk factors that refer to an individual's clinical, allergic, health, and socioeconomic status. Further study should also investigate the etiologic role of diet in AP and the molecular mechanisms behind the development of AP to establish whether AP is caused by exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

Lichen planus in 24 children with review of the literature.

Lichen planus is a disease generally considered uncommon in children. Our objective was to obtain epidemiologic data retrospectively and determine the clinical characteristics of lichen planus in Mexican children seen in our dermatology department. We found 235 patients with the clinical and histologic diagnosis of lichen planus seen over a period of 22 years and 7 months. Twenty-four (10.2%) of these patients were children (15 years of age or younger). The ratio of male to female was 1:1.2. The main clinical pattern was classic lichen planus (43.5%). Mucous membrane and nail involvement were uncommon. No family history of lichen planus or systemic disease was noted. In the international literature, the frequency of lichen planus varied from 2.1% to 11.2% of the pediatric population. In the majority of studies no significant gender predominance was identified. Most patients had the classic variety of lichen planus. Reported mucosal involvement was rare, except in India and Kuwait. Frequency of nail involvement ranged from 0% to 16.6%. Little evidence of systemic disease or family history was found.

Dermatosis cenicienta (Eritema discrómico perstans) / Ashy dermatosis (Erythema dischromicum perstans)

La dermatosis cenicienta (DC) es una hipermelanosis idiopática, adquirida, generalizada, macular, azul grisáceo ceniciento que aparece en individuos sanos. Descrito por primera vez por Oswaldo Ramírez en El Salvador en 1957. La etiología de la DC es desconocida; es más común en América Latina y Asia, aunque se han descrito casos en diferentes partes del mundo. Afecta principalmente a individuos de piel oscura, de ambos sexos, con un predominio por la segunda década de la vida. La DC se presenta como una enfermedad crónica y asintomática, de larga evolución, de importancia cosmética principalmente. Afecta comúnmente el tronco, brazos, cuello y cara, sin preferencia por áreas expuestas. El diagnóstico diferencial debe hacerse con el liquen plano pigmentado y pigmentación macular eruptiva idiopática, principalmente. En la histopatología, se observa una epidermis ligeramente aplanada con áreas de vacuolización e hiperpigmentación de la capa basal, con infiltrado escaso perivascular linfocitario. Las opciones terapéuticas son muchas, pero pocas han resultado efectivas, el único tratamiento que al parecer tiene más eficacia es la clofazimina a una dosis promedio de 100mg tres veces por semana durante tres a cinco meses

The ashy dermatosis (A O) is an idiopathic acquiredblue-gray macular hyperme/anosis, widespread, that appears in hea/thy individua/s. /t was first described by Oswaldo Ramirez from El Salvador in 1957. The etio/ogy of the AD remains unknown; ít's more common in Latin America and Asia, though cases have been described worldwide. /t affects both sexes, most commonly dark skin individuals, in the second decade of the Me. The AD has a chronic and asymptomatic course with a long evolution, with just cosmetic importance, It usually affects the trunk, arms, neck and face, rarely the exposed areas. The dífferential diagnosis must be done especíally with the lichen planus pigmentosus and idiopathic macular eruptive pigmentation. The histopatology shows a lightly smoothed epidermis with areas of vacuolization and hyperpigmentation of the basal cell layer, with scanty perivascular limphocytic infiltration. There are many therapeutíc optíons, but few of them are effective. The only treatment that apparently has been more effective is clofazimine using an average dose of 100 mg three times per week during three to five months

Evidence that thalidomide modifies the immune response of patients suffering from actinic prurigo.

BACKGROUND: Actinic prurigo (AP) is a photodermatosis with a restricted ethnic distribution, mainly affecting Mestizo women (mixed Indian and European). The lesions are polymorphic and include macules, papules, crusts, hyperpigmentation and lichenification. Thalidomide, an effective immunomodulatory drug, was first used successfully to treat AP in 1973. In this work we describe the effect that thalidomide had on TNF-alpha sera levels and on IL-4- and IFN gamma (IFNgamma)-producing lymphocytes of actinic prurigo (AP) patients. METHODS: Actinic prurigo patients were analyzed before and after thalidomide treatment. The percentage of IL-4+ or IFNgamma+ CD3+ lymphocytes was analyzed in eight of them by flow cytometry. TNFalpha in sera was measured by ELISA in 11 patients. RESULTS: A direct correlation was observed between resolution of AP lesions and an increase in IFNgamma+ CD3+ peripheral blood mononuclear cells (P < or = 0.001) and a decrease in TNFalpha serum levels (no statistical difference). No IL-4+ CD3+ cells were detected. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings confirm that AP is a disease that has an immunological component and that thalidomide clinical efficacy is exerted not only through inhibition of TNFalpha synthesis, but also through modulation of INFgamma-producing CD3+ cells. These cells could be used as clinical markers for recovery.

Diagnosis and treatment of actinic prurigo.

Actinic prurigo (AP) is an idiopathic photodermatosis that affects mainly the mestizo population in Latin America. It has an early onset, a slight predominance in women, and affects the sun-exposed areas of the skin, causing erythematous papules and lichenified plaques secondary to intense and chronic pruritus. Lesions can be induced by both ultraviolet A (UVA) and ultraviolet B (UVB). An association with several human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles has been reported. AP is unique among all photodermatoses in its remarkable response to thalidomide. In the past the microscopic features of AP have been considered as nonspecific; however, the constant finding of dense lymphocytic inflammatory infiltrates and the immunogenetic features of AP support the existence of an immunologic mechanism in its pathogenesis.

Actinic prurigo cheilitis: clinicopathologic analysis and therapeutic results in 116 cases.

Objective. This study describes the clinicopathologic features and therapeutic results of 116 patients with actinic prurigo cheilitis seen over an 11-year period. Study Design. A retrospective study was carried out with hospital records and a microscopic slide review from a large dermatology department in Mexico City, Mexico. Results. The study consisted of 42 male (36.2%) and 74 female (63.8%) patients, with a male to female ratio of 1:1.7. Age ranged from 9 to 82 years (mean, 27.9 years; standard deviation, 14.2). Thirty-two cases (27.6%) were found in which cheilitis was the only manifestation of this condition. Pruritus, tingling, and pain of the vermilion were recorded in 96 cases (82.7%). Typical histopathologic findings included in most cases the presence of acanthosis, spongiosis, basal cell vacuolation, ulceration with serohematic crust formation, edema of the lamina propria, lymphocytic inflammatory infiltrate with well-defined lymphoid follicles, and variable numbers of eosinophils and melanophages. Improvement of the symptoms was obtained in 112 cases (96.5%) with sun-protective measures and diverse antiinflammatory agents. However, complete resolution of the labial lesions were more frequently achieved with the combination of topical steroids, thalidomide, and sun-protective measures (42.2%) as compared with topical steroid therapy plus sun-protection measures (16.3%; P <.005). Conclusion. Our findings confirm that lip lesions may appear as the only manifestations of this photodermatosis and that it has typical clinical and microscopic features and should therefore be considered a specific form of cheilitis.

Análisis de HLA-DR en pacientes mexicanos con pénfigo / HLA-DR Analysis in Mexican patients with pemphigus

Los pénfigos son un grupo de enfermedades ampollosas de piel y mucosas que histológicamente presentan ampollas intraepidérmicas por acantólisis y anticuerpos fijos y circulantes dirigidos contra la superficie celular de los queratinocitos. En pacientes mexicanos que padecen pénfigo, no se han determinado desequilibrios de presentación de antígenos del HLA, como se ha estudiado en otras poblaciones, por lo que se efectuó un estudio comparativo, prospectivo, transversal y observacional en 25 pacientes; 18 de ellos con pénfigo vulgar y 7 con pénfigo foliáceo a quienes se les tomó muestra de sangre periférica para la extracción de DNA, con el método de expulsión salina ("salting out"). Se realizó determinación de HLA-DR, amplificando la región HLA-DRB1, mediante la técnica de reacción de polimerasa en cadena (PCR) y se determi-naron cada uno de los alelos con oligonucleótidos específicos de alelos (ASO), utilizando el kit Amplicor Hoffman La Roche Basilea, Suiza.Los resultados mostraron que el HLA-DR14 (DR6) es más común en los pacientes con pénfigo, sobre todo pénfigo vulgar, que en la población sana control, esto concuerda con lo descrito en la literatura universal. Por otra parte, el HLA-DR1 representa un riesgo relativo mayor para el desarrollo de pénfigo foliáceo en nuestra población.

Dermatosis cenicienta: experiencia del Departamento de Dermatología del Hospital Gea González de la ciudad de México / Ashy dermatosis: the experience of the Department of Dermatology, Gea Gonzalez Hospital, Mexico city

La dermatosis cenicienta es un padecimiento inflamatorio de la piel que, en su fase tardía, muestra manchas hiperpigmentadas de color gris-parduzco ("cenicientas") muy características. Es un padecimiento que tiende a la cronicidad y cursa de manera asintomática; se le observa predominantemente en población mestiza de Latinoamérica. La mayoría de los enfermos responden bien al tratamiento con 50 mg/día de clofazimina durante varios meses. Estudios recientes sugieren que se trata de un padecimiento de base inmunológica

Dermatosis cenicienta: experiencia del Departamento de Dermatología del Hospital Gea González de la ciudad de México / Ashy dermatosis: the experience of the Department of Dermatology, Gea Gonzalez Hospital, Mexico city

La dermatosis cenicienta es un padecimiento inflamatorio de la piel que, en su fase tardía, muestra manchas hiperpigmentadas de color gris-parduzco ("cenicientas") muy características. Es un padecimiento que tiende a la cronicidad y cursa de manera asintomática; se le observa predominantemente en población mestiza de Latinoamérica. La mayoría de los enfermos responden bien al tratamiento con 50 mg/día de clofazimina durante varios meses. Estudios recientes sugieren que se trata de un padecimiento de base inmunológica (AU)

Estudio inmunohistoquímico para demostrar la presencia de linfocitos T y B en el infiltrado inflamatorio de las biopsias de piel, labio y conjuntiva de pacientes con prurigo actínico / Immunohistochemistry study to demostrate the presence of T and B lymphocytes in skin, lip and conjunctival biopsies of actinic prurigo patients

Se reportan los resultados de un estudio inmunohistoquímico del infiltrado inflamatorio de biopsias de la piel, el labio y la conjuntiva de pacientes con prurigo actínico (PA), donde se aplicaron anticuerpos monoclonales contra vimentina (para saber si el tejido necesitaba recuperación antigénica), contra antígeno común leucocitario (CD45), UCHL-1 (anti-CD45RO) marcador de linfocitos T, L-26 (anti-CD20) marcador de linfocitos B. Se demostró la presencia de linfocitos B y T en los infiltrados inflamatorios; cuando éstos se disponen en folículos linfoides los linfocitos B se encuentran al centro y los T en la periferia