Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor and other cytokines in atopic dermatitis, and correlation with clinical features.

Background: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was found increased in the stratum corneum of patients with atopic dermatitis (AD). However, its potential pathogenic role(s) in AD needs further clarification.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether VEGF serum levels correlate with other selected cytokine levels and features of AD.

Antinuclear antibodies in rosacea patients.

Introduction: Rosacea is a common inflammatory disorder, characterized by a spectrum of facial manifestations. The clinical similarity to other dermatoses, like lupus erythematosus, might lead to misdiagnosis, particularly in patients with elevated antinuclear antibody titers.

Aim: To assess the frequency, titer and specificity of antinuclear antibodies in rosacea patients and correlate these findings with clinical features.

Vitamin D effects in atopic dermatitis.

Background: Because vitamin D has immunomodulatory properties and immunologic mechanisms play a role in the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis (AD), it is possible that vitamin D may influence the activity of AD.

Objective: The aim of the study was to correlate vitamin D concentrations in patients who had AD with clinical, immunologic, constitutional, and environmental factors, and to determine if vitamin D supplementation affects the clinical manifestations of AD.

Methods: Clinical and laboratory parameters of 95 patients with AD and 58 control subjects were measured.

Psoriasis rupioides: a rare variant of a common disease.

Psoriasis lesions typically are classified by their morphologic appearance and include plaque, guttate, pustular, and erythrodermic forms. Few review articles on psoriasis discuss the rare variant termed psoriasis rupioides. We report a case of psoriasis rupioides and discuss the unique features of this unusual form of psoriasis.

The dynamism of cutaneous lupus erythematosus: mild discoid lupus erythematosus evolving into SLE with SCLE and treatment-resistant lupus panniculitis.

We present a 47-year-old Caucasian female who initially presented with mild discoid lupus erythematosus that evolved into systemic lupus erythematosus with subacute cutaneous LE and treatment-recalcitrant lupus panniculitis. Conventional therapy with antimalarials, systemic steroids, azathioprine, cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and pulse doses of methylprednisolone did not control the course of the disease. Cyclosporin-A treatment led to clinical improvement and maintained remission.

Optimal use of antimalarials in treating cutaneous lupus erythematosus.

Antimalarials have been used to treat cutaneous and systemic lupus erythematosus (LE) for decades. Although controlled studies comparing the efficacy of antimalarials versus placebo and other treatments are generally lacking, many case reports and series support the therapeutic efficacy of these agents in treating both LE-specific and -nonspecific skin lesions. Currently, the two most frequently used antimalarial agents are chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine.

Pneumocystis carinii mimicking neonatal lupus erythematosus-related pneumonitis.

Neonatal lupus erythematosus (LE) is a rare disease associated with the transplacental passage of maternal autoantibodies to infants who manifest congenital heart block, skin disease, and less commonly, hematologic and hepatic disease. Pulmonary disease is a rare manifestation of neonatal LE and has presented as transient pneumonitis. In this report we describe an infant with neonatal LE who had the classic skin and hematologic findings of the disease in addition to pulmonary disease which might be attributed to neonatal LE-related pneumonitis, but in fact was caused by a concomitant Pneumocystis carinii infection.

52 kD Ro/SS-A localizes to punctate structures in the cytoplasm of epithelial cells.

Autoantibodies directed against 52 kD and 60 kD Ro/SS-A are frequently found in the sera of patients with lupus erythematosus and Sjögren's syndrome-related disorders. Their location in the cell is subject to continuous debate in literature. It has been postulated that 52 kD Ro (52 Ro) co-localizes with the 60 kD Ro autoantigen in the nucleus, while others demonstrated that 52 Ro is primarily cytoplasmic.