Factors associated with non-pathogenic antibodies against desmoglein-3 in pemphigus foliaceus.

Background: Anti-desmoglein (Dsg)1 is produced in pemphigus foliaceus (PF), affecting exclusively the skin. Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) shows the production of anti-Dsg3 in the mucosal form, and anti-Dsg1 and 3 in the mucocutaneous form. Anti-Dsg3 autoantibodies have been rarely reported in PF.

Dexamethasone-cyclophosphamide pulse therapy outcomes comparing pemphigus vulgaris and pemphigus foliaceus groups in a Brazilian cohort study.

Background: Dexamethasone-cyclophosphamide pulse (DCP) and dexamethasone pulse (DP) have been successfully used to treat pemphigus, but DCP/DP outcomes comparing pemphigus vulgaris (PV) and pemphigus foliaceus (PF) are scarce.

Objective: To compare DCP/DP outcomes in a Brazilian cohort of PV and PF patients according to demographic and clinical data.

Methods: Retrospective analytical cohort study, reviewing medical charts of PV and PF patients (for DCP/DP Phases I‒IV consult Pasricha et al.

Measurement of pesticides in hair samples from pemphigus foliaceus and pemphigus vulgaris patients in Southeastern Brazil.

Background: Pesticides, mainly organophosphates (OP), have been related to increased risk of pemphigus vulgaris (PV) and pemphigus foliaceus (PF), nevertheless, their measurement has not been determined in pemphigus patients.

Objective: To evaluate pesticide exposure and pesticide measurement, comparing PV, PF and control groups in Southeastern Brazil.

Methods: Information about urban or rural residency and exposure to pesticides at the onset of pemphigus was assessed by questionnaire interview; hair samples from the scalp of PV, PF, and controls were tested for OP and organochlorines (OC) by gas-phase chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry.

Bullous pemphigoid and milia: prevalence and clinical laboratory findings in a Brazilian sample.

Background: Bullous pemphigoid (BP) associated with milia lesions has been increasingly reported, but its prevalence has not been reported in a Brazilian BP population yet.

Objectives: To describe the occurrence and clinical-laboratorial findings of BP-milia association in a southeastern Brazilian sample.

Methods: A descriptive study based on the medical charts of 102 BP patients was accomplished.

Autoantibodies against desmoglein 2 are not pathogenic in pemphigus.

Background: Anti-desmoglein 1 and 3 autoantibodies justify acantholysis in pemphigus; however, the pathogenesis of anti-desmoglein 2 is hypothetical.

Objective: To compare the participation of desmogleins 1, 2 and 3 through the production of serum autoantibodies, and protein and gene expression in the skin/mucosa of patients with pemphigus foliaceus and pemphigus vulgaris.

Methods: The autoantibodies were titrated by ELISA in 202 samples of pemphigus foliaceus, 131 pemphigus vulgaris, 50 and 57 relatives of patients with pemphigus foliaceus and pemphigus vulgaris, respectively, and 114 controls.

RNA-sequencing of the Nyssomyia neivai sialome: a sand fly-vector from a Brazilian endemic area for tegumentary leishmaniasis and pemphigus foliaceus.

Leishmaniasis encompasses a spectrum of diseases caused by a protozoan belonging to the genus Leishmania. The parasite is transmitted by the bite of sand flies, which inoculate the promastigote forms into the host's skin while acquiring a blood meal. Nyssomyia neivai is one of the main vectors of tegumentary leishmaniasis (TL) in Brazil.

Mycobacterium leprae on Palatine Tonsils and Adenoids of Asymptomatic Patients, Brazil.

We investigated palatine tonsil and adenoid specimens excised from otorhinolaryngological patients in a leprosy-endemic region of Brazil. Fite-Faraco staining identified Mycobacterium spp. in 9 of 397 specimen blocks.

Consensus on the treatment of autoimmune bullous dermatoses: bullous pemphigoid, mucous membrane pemphigoid and epidermolysis bullosa acquisita - Brazilian Society of Dermatology.

Bullous pemphigoid, mucous membrane pemphigoid and epidermolysis bullosa acquisita are subepidermal autoimmune blistering diseases whose antigenic target is located at the basement membrane zone. Mucous membrane pemphigoid and epidermolysis bullosa acquisita can evolve with cicatricial mucosal involvement, leading to respiratory, ocular and/or digestive sequelae with important morbidity. For each of these dermatoses, a literature review covering all therapeutic options was performed.

Clinico-immunological spectrum of American tegumentary leishmaniasis and leprosy coinfection: A case series in Southeastern Brazil.

Introduction: American tegumentary leishmaniasis (ATL) and leprosy share common areas of prevalence, but reports of coinfection are scarce.

Methods: We report a series of 9 ATL-leprosy cases and discuss the association. An integrative diagram to analyze the clinico-immunological features of coinfection with both diseases.

Epidermal necrolysis: SCORTEN performance in AIDS and non-AIDS patients.

Background: Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis are life-threatening blistering drug reactions with high incidence of ocular sequela. The term 'Epidermal Necrolysis' has been recently used to better describe the full spectrum of the disease that includes Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis at opposite ends, which differ by the extent of body surface area with epidermal detachment. SCORTEN is a mortality prognosis score for 'Epidermal Necrolysis' cases that still needed validation in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

Trace element profile in pemphigus foliaceus and in pemphigus vulgaris patients from Southeastern Brazil.

Pemphigus foliaceus (PF) and pemphigus vulgaris (PV) are autoimmune bullous diseases; they are endemic in the northeastern region of the state of São Paulo, Southeastern Brazil. Patients' copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), and selenium (Se) metabolic deficiencies have already been associated with PV pathogenesis in the Middle East but not in Brazil. Lead (Pb), Cu, Zn, and Se concentrations were determined in whole blood or serum samples obtained from 56 PV patients, 62 PF patients, and 135 healthy controls from the endemic region and compared.

Bullous Pemphigoid Associated with Ischemic Cerebrovascular Accident and Dementia: Exclusive Blistering Lesions on the Upper Hemiparetic Limb.

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) has been associated with neurological disorders (NDs), which has led to the hypothesis that molecular mimicry exists between hemidesmosomal proteins and neuronal peptides. A 79-year-old hemiparetic woman presented with tense bullae affecting exclusively her right paretic upper limb for three months. Histopathology, taken from the perilesional area, revealed an inflammatory infiltrate with predominant eosinophils.

Anti-phospholipid syndrome in seven leprosy patients with thrombotic events on corticosteroid and/or thalidomide regimen: insights on genetic and laboratory profiles.

Introduction: Corticosteroids and/or thalidomides have been associated with thromboembolism events (TBE) in multibacillary (MB) leprosy. This report aimed to determine genetic and laboratory profiles associated with leprosy and TBE.

Methods: Antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL), coagulation-related exams, prothrombin and Leiden's factor V mutations, and ß2-glycoprotein-I (ß2GPI) Val247Leu polymorphism were assessed.

Direct Immunofluorescence as a Helpful Tool for the Differential Diagnosis of Oral Lichen Planus and Oral Lichenoid Lesions.

A great number of lichenoid lesions have overlapping clinicopathological features, so the use of adjunct tests to establish definitive diagnosis is recommended for correct management and prognosis of the lesions. In this context, direct immunofluorescence (DIF) can be a useful tool. Thus, this study aimed to characterize the clinical, histopathological, and DIF pattern in patients with oral lichen planus (OLP) and patients with oral lichenoid lesions (OLLs).