Background: The diagnosis of malignant melanoma currently relies on clinical inspection of the skin surface and on the histopathological status of the excised tumor. The serum marker S100B is used for prognostic estimates at later stages of the disease, but analyses are marred by false positives and inadequate sensitivity in predicting relapsing disorder.
Objectives: To investigate SOX10 as a potential biomarker for melanoma and vitiligo.
SOX10 is a transcription factor expressed in nerve cells and melanocytes. The aim of this study was to investigate the protein expression pattern of SOX10 in malignant melanoma tumors and to analyze whether the results correlated with clinical parameters and the proliferation marker Ki-67. Furthermore, proliferation and migration were analyzed in three different cell lines employing SOX10 small interfering RNA-mediated silencing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPatients with autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type 1 (APS-1) suffer from multiple organ-specific autoimmunity with autoantibodies against target tissue-specific autoantigens. Endocrine and nonendocrine organs such as skin, hair follicles, and liver are targeted by the immune system. Despite sporadic observations of pulmonary symptoms among APS-1 patients, an autoimmune mechanism for pulmonary involvement has not been elucidated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: A disturbance in the immune system has been described in Turner syndrome (45,X), with an association to low levels of IgG and IgM and decreased levels of T- and B-lymphocytes. Also different autoimmune diseases have been connected to Turner syndrome (45,X), thyroiditis being the most common. Other autoimmune diseases seen are inflammatory bowel disease, insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, Addison's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, myasthenia gravis, vitiligo, alopecia, pernicious anaemia and hypoparathyroidism, but the association to Turner syndrome is not definite.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPalmoplantar pustulosis is characterized by pustule formation in the acrosyringium. Nearly 50% of palmoplantar pustulosis sera produce immunofluorescence of the palmar papillary endothelium from healthy subjects, but also of the endothelium of normal parathyroid gland. With a case-control design the levels of calcium and parathyroid hormone in serum were measured in 60 women with palmoplantar pustulosis and 154 randomly selected population-based control women.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAutoimmune polyglandular syndrome type I (APS I) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by a combination of autoimmune manifestations affecting endocrine and non-endocrine organs. APS I usually presents in childhood. The three most common manifestations are chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis, hypoparathyroidism and Addison's disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe prevalence of autoantibodies against nine intracellular enzyme autoantigens, namely 21-hydroxylase, side-chain cleavage enzyme (SCC), 17 alpha-hydroxylase, glutamic acid decarboxylase 65, aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase, tyrosine phosphatase-like protein IA-2, tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH), tyrosine hydroxylase, cytochrome P450 1A2, and against the extracellular calcium-sensing receptor, was assessed in 90 patients with autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type I. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed for the presence of autoantibodies as independent predictors for different disease manifestations. Reactivities against 21-hydroxylase and SCC were associated with Addison's disease with odds ratios (ORs) of 7.
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