CHIME syndrome is a variable condition characterized by ichthyosiform dermatosis, accompanied by intellectual disability, ocular colobomas, ear anomalies, and heart defects. It is an autosomal recessive condition caused by biallelic pathogenic variants in the PIGL gene. Until now, all reports of individuals affected with CHIME syndrome showed the PIGL c.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEpidermolysis bullosa (EB) is an umbrella term for a group of rare inherited skin disorders characterised by mucocutaneous fragility. Patients suffer from blisters and chronic wounds that arise spontaneously or following minor mechanical trauma, often resulting in inflammation, scarring and fibrosis due to poor healing. The recessive form of dystrophic EB (RDEB) has a particularly severe phenotype and is caused by mutations in the COL7A1 gene, encoding the collagen VII protein, which is responsible for adhering the epidermis and dermis together.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRecessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB) is a rare inherited skin disease characterized by defects in type VII collagen leading to a range of fibrotic pathologies resulting from skin fragility, aberrant wound healing, and altered dermal fibroblast physiology. Using a novel in vitro model of fibrosis based on endogenously produced extracellular matrix, we screened an FDA-approved compound library and identified antivirals as a class of drug not previously associated with anti-fibrotic action. Preclinical validation of our lead hit, daclatasvir, in a mouse model of RDEB demonstrated significant improvement in fibrosis as well as overall quality of life with increased survival, weight gain and activity, and a decrease in pruritus-induced hair loss.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSkin Health Dis
February 2024
Background: Recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB) is a rare inherited skin fragility disorder requiring multidisciplinary management. Information regarding costs of current standard treatment is scant.
Objectives: As part of a longitudinal natural history study, we explored the community care costs of UK patients with different forms of RDEB.
Background: Itch is common and distressing in epidermolysis bullosa (EB) but has not previously been studied in depth in different recessive dystrophic EB (RDEB) subtypes.
Objectives: As part of a prospective register study of the natural history of RDEB we explored features of itch, medications used, and correlation with disease severity and quality of life.
Methods: Fifty individuals with RDEB aged 8 years and above completed the Leuven Itch Scale (LIS) (total 243 reviews over a 7-year period).
Dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa is a rare genetic skin disorder caused by COL7A1 sequence variations that result in type VII collagen deficits and cutaneous and extracutaneous manifestations. One serious complication of dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa is cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, a leading driver of morbidity and mortality, especially among patients with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa. Type VII collagen deficits alter TGFβ signaling and evoke multiple other cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma progression-promoting activities within epidermal microenvironments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: In epidermolysis bullosa simplex (EBS), epithelial structural fragility results in blisters and erosions. Diacerein 1% ointment has been shown to reduce this blistering.
Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of diacerein 1% ointment in the treatment of EBS.
Background: The pathophysiological processes underlying the phenotypic spectrum of severe forms of epidermolysis bullosa (EB) are complex and poorly understood.
Objective: To use burden mapping to explore relationships between primary pathomechanisms and secondary clinical manifestations in severe forms of EB (junctional and dystrophic EB [JEB/DEB]) and highlight strengths and weaknesses in evidence regarding the contribution of different pathways.
Methods: Literature searches were performed to identify evidence regarding the pathophysiological and clinical aspects of JEB/DEB.
Background: Netherton syndrome (NS; OMIM: 256500) is a rare autosomal recessively inherited disease due to SPINK5 mutations. Hair and inflammatory skin involvement are variable along with allergies. Morbidity and mortality are high, particularly in infancy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Desmosomes are complex cell junction structures that connect intermediate filaments providing strong cell-to-cell adhesion in tissues exposed to mechanical stress.
Objectives: To identify causal variants in individuals with woolly hair and skin fragility of unknown genetic cause.
Methods: This research was conducted using whole-genome sequencing, whole-exome sequencing, clinical phenotyping, haplotype analysis, single-cell RNA sequencing data analysis, immunofluorescence microscopy and transmission electron microscopy.
Introduction: Ichthyoses comprise a heterogenous group of rare genetic skin disorders that involves the entire skin surface, often with additional syndromic features, and pose many clinical challenges. Without curative intervention, the mainstay of life-long symptom management is supportive in nature and can remain the responsibility of the caregiver. Although impact on the wider family is considered an important outcome of policies and services, there is a lack of caregiver consensus on what outcome domains to measure to fully assess the impact of ichthyosis on the patient and the caregiver.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClin Exp Dermatol
December 2022
For disorders of keratinization, topical treatment alone may be ineffective, and systemic retinoid therapy may be indicated. Treatment with systemic retinoids (acitretin, isotretinoin and alitretinoin) has been shown to be effective in reducing disease severity; however, potentially rare adverse effects (AEs) may occur, including hyperostotic skeletal changes. The true prevalence of this AE in adult patients administered life-long therapy is unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEpidermolysis bullosa acquisita is a highly uncommon condition in the paediatric population. This article describes three children with this disease, different clinical presentation and management. It also reviews the most relevant articles on this topic.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA 15-year-old boy presented with a two-year history of subcutaneous nodules on his feet that were painful on palpation and with footwear. The patient is an avid gamer, and his mother had noted a distinct sitting position as he sat playing his console. Skin biopsy showed features of a collagenoma, consistent with previous reports of repetitive pressure lesions associated with various sports and religious practices.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The National Health Service (NHS) epidermolysis bullosa (EB) service, established in 2002, offers comprehensive, free care to all patients in England and Wales.
Objectives: To quantify prevalence, incidence and mortality of EB in England and Wales.
Methods: Demographic data for patients in England and Wales were collected on a secure electronic database, prospectively from January 2002 to April 2021 and retrospectively for cases prior to 2002.
Chronic wounds present a major disease burden in people with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB), an inherited blistering skin disorder caused by mutations in COL7A1 encoding type VII collagen, the major component of anchoring fibrils at the dermal-epidermal junction. Treatment of RDEB wounds is mostly symptomatic, and there is considerable unmet need in trying to improve and accelerate wound healing. In this study, we defined transcriptomic profiles and gene pathways in RDEB wounds and compared these to intact skin in RDEB and healthy control subjects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground/objectives: Laryngo-onycho-cutaneous syndrome (LOC) is a rare subtype of junctional epidermolysis bullosa (JEB), featuring aberrant granulation tissue formation in the skin, larynx, and eyes. So far, three mutations including the specific (founder) mutation in exon 39 of LAMA3 (c.151dup) have been identified, but sparse data exists regarding the natural history, the genotype-phenotype correlation, and its differentiation from other JEB types.
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