Safety and Efficacy of Lenabasum, a Cannabinoid Receptor Type 2 Agonist, in Patients with Dermatomyositis with Refractory Skin Disease: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background: Treatment options are limited for skin disease in dermatomyositis. Lenabasum is a cannabinoid receptor type 2 agonist that triggers the resolution of inflammation.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of lenabasum in patients with refractory cutaneous dermatomyositis.

Cannabinoid type 2 receptor (CB2R) distribution in dermatomyositis skin and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and in vivo effects of Lenabasum.

Background: Lenabasum is a cannabinoid type 2 receptor (CB2R) reverse agonist that demonstrates anti-inflammatory effects in vivo and in vitro in dermatomyositis (DM) and is currently being investigated for therapeutic potential. The purpose of our study is to investigate CB2R distribution as well as the effects of lenabasum in DM.

Methods: Immunohistochemistry staining (IHC) was utilized to examine immune cell and cytokine production changes in lesional DM skin biopsies from lenabasum and placebo-treated patients.

The CLASI, a validated tool for the evaluation of skin disease in lupus erythematosus: a narrative review.

Cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE) can present with or without features of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), with estimates of the incidence of isolated skin disease almost equaling the incidence of those with systemic disease. However, despite the impact CLE has on a patient's quality of life (QoL), there has been no US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved treatment for the disease in the past 50 years. In addition, patients with skin predominant LE are often excluded from clinical SLE trials.

Evaluating change in disease activity needed to reflect meaningful improvement in quality of life for clinical trials in cutaneous lupus erythematosus.

Background: Outcome measures of clinical trials in cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE) should reflect clinically meaningful improvement in disease activity, as measured by the Cutaneous Lupus Disease Area and Severity Index activity score (CLASI-A).

Objective: We aimed to define the degree of improvement in disease activity meaningful to a patient's quality of life.

Methods: The change in the CLASI-A in 126 patients needed to predict meaningful change in QoL, as defined by the Emotions and Symptoms subscales of the Skindex-29, was evaluated by linear regression models.

Treatment of Autoimmune Bullous Disorders in Pregnancy.

Autoimmune bullous diseases (AIBD), including pemphigus, bullous pemphigoid, epidermolysis bullosa acquisita, mucous membrane pemphigoid, and pemphigoid gestationis, pose significant therapeutic challenges, especially in pregnant and post-partum breastfeeding patients or those planning to conceive. Data on the safety and efficacy of therapeutic interventions during the perinatal period are lacking because randomized controlled trials are typically not performed in this setting. However, many of the treatments for AIBD are also used in other diseases, so data can be extrapolated from studies or case reports in these other patient populations.

Re-examining mechanic's hands as a characteristic skin finding in dermatomyositis.

Mechanic's hands is a poorly defined clinical finding that has been reported in a variety of rheumatologic diseases. Morphologic descriptions include hyperkeratosis on the sides of the digits that sometimes extends to the distal tips, diffuse palmar scale, and (more recently observed) linear discrete scaly papules in a similar lateral distribution. The association of mechanic's hands with dermatomyositis, although recognized, is still debatable.