[Phototoxic reaction due to solar radiation exposure in a psoriatic patient treated with PUVA therapy].

A phototoxic reaction may be induced by additional exposure to solar radiation during photochemotherapy (psoralen, ultra-violet A - PUVA treatment). A woman was admitted to Dermatology and Venereology Clinic in Łódź as an emergency case due to extensive erythematous-vesicular lesions on the skin of the lower limbs, accompanied by pain, itching and burning of the skin. The interview found that the patient was undergoing PUVA phototherapy for psoriatic lesions, with hypertension and nicotine dependence.

ADAMTS13 deficiency and immunological abnormalities in patients with systemic sclerosis.

Introduction: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a chronic autoimmune connective tissue disorder characterized by immunological deviations and generalized microvascular damage.

Aim: To determine the serum level of the von Willebrand factor cleaving protease (ADAMTS13) in 39 SSc patients and healthy controls.

Material And Methods: ADAMTS13 serum level was determined in 39 SSc patients and 11 healthy controls.

The use of isotretinoin in low doses and unconventional treatment regimens in different types of acne: a literature review.

High effectiveness of isotretinoin treatment for severe types of acne resistant to antibiotics has been widely recognized. However, the recommended doses in conventional therapy, according to consensus of the Polish Dermatological Society, may cause serious adverse effects. Thus, research into less stressful, alternative treatment regimens with the use of low doses of isotretinoin has been carried out.

The influence of corticosteroid treatment on the OPG/RANK/RANKL pathway and osteocalcin in patients with pemphigus.

Introduction: Pemphigus is a rare autoimmune blistering disease, which requires prolonged administration of corticosteroids at high doses. Although this therapy improves the health and lives of patients, it may have various side effects, for example osteoporosis.

Aim: To assess the concentration of osteoprotegerin (OPG), the soluble receptor activator of nuclear factor-κβ ligand (sRANKL) and osteocalcin in patients with pemphigus.

Genetic polymorphisms of CYP2D6 oxidation in patients with autoimmune bullous diseases.

Introduction: Bullous skin diseases, which include, among others pemphigoid, pemphigus, and dermatitis herpetiformis are classified as severe autoimmune dermatoses. It has been shown that a pattern of xenobiotic metabolism may play a role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases.

Aim: To estimate whether the CYP2D6 genotype may be considered a predisposing factor in autoimmune bullous diseases induction.

Pathogenic activity of circulating anti-desmoglein-3 autoantibodies isolated from pemphigus vulgaris patients.

Introduction: There are scarce data on immunochemical properties of pemphigus antibodies detected in clinical remission in pemphigus vulgaris (PV) patients. The aim of the study was to compare biological activity of anti-Dsg3 autoantibodies purified from the sera of PV patients in active stage and in clinical remission.

Material And Methods: The effect of purified antibodies on expression of procaspase-3, Bax, Bcl-2, uPAR, IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α mRNAs in the HaCaT keratinocytes was evaluated by Western blot and RT-PCR method.

ICOS gene polymorphism may be associated with pemphigus.

Background: Pemphigus is an autoimmune blistering disease mediated by circulating IgG autoantibodies directed against desmogleins 3 and/or 1. As pemphigus is a T cell-mediated disease, one may assume that genetically determined disregulation of costimulatory signal may be involved in its pathogenesis.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between polymorphisms in genes encoding costimulatory receptors, CTLA4 and ICOS, and pemphigus in the Polish population.

[Pyoderma gangrenosum--an interdisciplinary diagnostic problem].

Pyoderma gangrenosum is a rare, chronic, progressive and noninfectious necrosis of skin with an unclear etiology. It usually coexists with the systemic disorders. Clinically it appears as a rapidly spreading ulceration in a various location.

Serum concentration of interleukin-6 is increased both in active and remission stages of pemphigus vulgaris.

As most studies on pemphigus vulgaris (PV) pathogenesis concern its active stage, we aimed to evaluate the serum concentration of TNF-alpha, IL-1, and IL-6 in PV patients in clinical remission. The study group consisted of sera from 19 PV patients in active stage and from 24 patients in clinical remission. 19 sera taken from healthy subjects served as the controls.

Circulating pemphigus autoantibodies in healthy relatives of pemphigus patients: coincidental phenomenon with a risk of disease development?

Pemphigus is a severe autoimmune disease characterized by circulating and bound in vivo pemphigus autoantibodies. It was revealed that the autoantibodies occur in healthy first-degree relatives of pemphigus patients; however, their significance is not fully elucidated. Thus, the aim of the study was to assess the frequency of circulating IgG pemphigus autoantibodies in the healthy relatives of pemphigus patients and of their ability to bind in vivo in the epidermis.

Tumour necrosis factor-alpha polymorphism as one of the complex inherited factors in pemphigus.

The aim of our study was to analyse a significance of tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha promoter gene polymorphisms in relation to the HLA-DR locus in genetic predisposition to pemphigus. TNF-alpha gene polymorphisms in position -238 and -308 were identified using a modified polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method in 53 patients with pemphigus (38 with pemphigus vulgaris, 15 with pemphigus foliaceus) and 87 healthy controls. The HLA-DRB1 locus was typed using the polymerase chain reaction SSO method in all the patients and 152 population controls.

Detection of pemphigus autoantibodies by IIF and ELISA tests in patients with pemphigus vulgaris and foliaceus and in healthy relatives.

Background: Pemphigus is a life-threatening, autoimmune blistering disease, mediated by IgG autoantibodies. The aim of our study was to assess the usefulness of a new enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in detecting circulating pemphigus autoantibodies, and to compare its sensitivity and specificity with the indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) test. We also established the frequency of occurrence of pemphigus autoantibodies in relatives of our patients.

[Genital mucous membrane involvement in the course of autoimmune bullous diseases--a diagnostic problem].

Blisters and erosions localized to genital mucous membranes often accompany various diseases and may cause significant diagnostic difficulties. Autoimmune bullous diseases (pemphigus, pemphigoid, LABD, EBA), characterized by skin and mucosal lesions, sometimes are limited only to genital mucous membranes. The possibility of the autoimmune bullous disorders should be considered in the differential diagnosis of genital tract ulceration because of severity of those diseases and the necessity of long-term immunosuppressive therapy.

Cryotherapy in the treatment of angiolymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophilia.

Background: Angiolymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophilia (ALHE) is a benign and very rare skin disorder of uncertain etiology. It occurs in both dermal and subcutaneous forms, which are regarded as variants of the same condition. Clinically, it is characterised by solitary or multiple, red to brown cutaneous papules or nodules, usually located on the head and neck.