Low-dose naltrexone: a novel adjunctive treatment in symptomatic alopecias?

Naltrexone is a competitive antagonist of µ, κ and γ opioid receptors, used for treatment of alcoholism and opioid addiction. Low-dose naltrexone (LDN) is defined as daily doses ranging from 1mg to 5mg. This is purported to have a paradoxical effect that leads to an increase in endogenous opioids, including beta-endorphins, which have anti-inflammatory properties. Theses mechanisms may also justify their possible role in the treatment of inflammatory conditions. The aim of this article is to discuss the use of LDN as an adjuvant therapeutic option in symptomatic alopecias presenting with trichodynia. Trichodynia is defined as scalp discomfort of variable intensity presenting as diffuse or localized dysesthesia and may be described by patients as pain, pruritus, or burning. These are common symptoms in patients with hair loss that negatively impacts quality of life. Scalp discomfort may be refractory to conventional therapies and does not yet have a specific therapeutic guideline. For these cases, LDN would be a possible alternative to be added to the therapeutic arsenal owing to its anti-inflammatory properties, analgesic potential, low cost, and few adverse effects described. Further studies are needed to standardize dosing, better understand its mechanism of action, and evaluate its potential therapeutic indications.

Perfil clínico-epidemiológico de pacientes com hanseníase atendidos em hospital universitário no Rio de Janeiro entre 2008 e 2017 / Clinical and epidemiological profile of leprosy patients admitted to a university hospital in Rio de Janeiro between 2008 and 2017

Modelo do estudo: Estudo observacional, longitudinal, retrospectivo e descritivo de uma coorte de pacientes. Objetivo: Descrever o perfil clínico e epidemiológico dos pacientes com diagnóstico de hanseníase, atendidos em um centro de referência no estado do Rio de Janeiro. Metodologia: Foram incluídos todos os pacientes com diagnóstico de hanseníase atendidos no Hospital Universitário Gaffrée e Guinle entre os anos de 2008 a 2017. Os dados foram coletados através da revisão de prontuários e analisados através de estatística descritiva, utilizando-se o software SPSS 22.0 database. Resultados: Um total de 112 pacientes foi incluído no estudo, sendo que 54,5% eram do sexo masculino. A média de idade foi de 49,9 anos, 62,4% eram moradores do município do Rio de Janeiro e 69,9% apresentaram formas clínicas multibacilares da hanseníase. Foi possível avaliar o grau de incapacidade inicial de 36 (32,1%) dos pacientes incluídos. Desses, 25% apresentaram grau de incapacidade inicial II. Durante o tratamento poliquimioterápico, 21 (18,8%) pacientes apresentaram algum efeito colateral, sendo o mais comum a anemia relacionada à dapsona. Cinquenta e nove (52,7%) pacientes apresentaram algum tipo de estado reacional da hanseníase e 10 (8,9%) apresentaram complicações sistêmicas graves durante o acompanhamento. Conclusões: O presente estudo evidenciou um perfil clínico-epidemiológico diferente do descrito na literatura, com uma grande porcentagem de pacientes com grau de incapacidade inicial II, uma alta frequência de estados reacionais e de complicações advindas do curso clínico da doença ou dos tratamentos implementados.(AU)

Introduction: This was an observational, longitudinal, retrospective and descriptive study of a cohort of patients. Objectives: To describe the clinical and epidemiological profile of the patients diagnosed with leprosy admitted to a reference medical center in the State of Rio de Janeiro. Methods: All leprosy patients admitted to the dermatology clinic from the Hospital Universitário Gaffrée and Guinle between 2008 and 2017 were included. Pertinent patients' data were collected through medical charts review. Data were then analyzed through descriptive statistics using SPSS 22.0 software. Results:a total of 112 patients were included in the study. Among them, 54.5% were male, the median age was 49.9 years old, 62.4% were residents in the city of Rio de Janeiro and 69.9% presented multibacillary leprosy clinical forms. We evaluated the initial disability grade of 36 from the 112 included patients, and out of them, 25% had grade II disability. During multidrug therapy, 21 (18.8%) patients presented an adverse effect, which the most common was anemia related to dapsone. Fifty-nine (52.7%) patients presented leprosy reaction and 10 (8.9%) patients presented severe systemic complications during the follow-up. Conclusions: In the present study, it was observed a distinctive clinical and epidemiological leprosy profile. There was a high frequency of grade II initial disability, leprosy reaction and severe clinical complications due to the progression of the disease or as adverse effects of leprosy treatment. (AU)

Mycosis fungoides preceding lymphomatoid papulosis

Lymphomatoid papulosis (LyP) is defined as a chronic, recurrent, self-healing papulonecrotic or papulonodular skin disease with histologic features suggestive of a (CD30-positive) malignant lymphoma. In up to 20% of patients, LyP are preceded by, associated with, or followed by another type of cutaneous or systemic lymphoma, generally mycosis fungoides (MF), primary cutaneous anaplastic large cell lymphoma (C-ALCL). In this case, we describe a case of MF that preceded and continued to coexist with LyP type C.(AU)

A papulose linfomatóide (LyP) é definida como uma doença cutânea papulonecrótica ou papulonodular crônica, recorrente, com características histológicas sugestivas de linfoma maligno (CD30-positivo). Em até 20% dos pacientes, o LyP é precedido por, associado ou seguido por outro tipo de linfoma cutâneo ou sistêmico, geralmente micose fungóide (MF), linfoma cutâneo primário de células grandes anaplásicas (C-ALCL). Neste caso, descrevemos um caso de MF que precedeu e continuou a coexistir com LyP tipo C. (AU)