Radiation and Hyperthermia Combination Therapy for Recalcitrant Verruca Vulgaris.

A 47-year-old white woman presented to our clinic complaining of recalcitrant warts on her trunk and extremities. She had an extensive past medical history including immunodeficiency of unknown origin, pulmonary hypertension, rheumatoid arthritis, and systemic lupus erythematosus, for which she was being treated with chronic immunosuppressive therapy with methylprednisolone and belimumab. The patient had previously failed treatments at an outside facility with liquid nitrogen, trichloroacetic acid, topical cidofovir, imiquimod, topical 5-fluorouracil, intralesional candida antigen, pulsed-dye laser (Vbeam Perfecta), surgical excision, and photodynamic therapy.

Hidradenitis suppurativa and concomitant pyoderma gangrenosum treated With infliximab.

Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) and hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) are rare chronic inflammatory dermatoses of unknown etiologies that often are refractory to conventional treatments. The therapeutic benefits of tumor necrosis factor a (TNF-α) inhibitors have been reported in patients with refractory PG or HS. The copresentation of these 2 diseases has previously been described in several cases in the literature and may present a therapeutic challenge.

Methylation of BDNF in women with bulimic eating syndromes: associations with childhood abuse and borderline personality disorder.

DNA methylation allows for the environmental regulation of gene expression and is believed to link environmental stressors to such mental-illness phenotypes as eating disorders. Numerous studies have shown an association between bulimia nervosa (BN) and variations in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). BDNF has also been linked to borderline personality disorder (BPD) and to such traits as reward dependence.

Methylation of the dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) gene promoter in women with a bulimia-spectrum disorder: associations with borderline personality disorder and exposure to childhood abuse.

Objective: Previous findings indicate that women with Bulimia Nervosa (BN), when compared to women with no eating disorder (NED), tend to display elevated methylation in the promoter region of the DRD2 gene. The preceding would be compatible with evidence of generally reduced dopamine activity in people with BN. However, altered DNA methylation has also been associated with adverse environmental exposures (such as to childhood abuse) and with psychiatric disturbances (such as Borderline Personality Disorder: BPD).

CD1d-dependent, iNKT-cell cytotoxicity against keratinocytes in allergic contact dermatitis.

Conventional CD8+ T-lymphocytes are thought to be major effector cells in allergic contact dermatitis (ACD). However, previous work has demonstrated a significant population of invariant natural killer T-cells (iNKT-cells) in the elicitation phase of ACD. In this study, we investigate whether iNKT-cells have the capacity to serve as effector lymphocytes in ACD.

Dopamine-system genes, childhood abuse, and clinical manifestations in women with Bulimia-Spectrum Disorders.

Objective: We explored interaction effects involving polymorphisms of targeted dopamine system genes and selected forms of childhood abuse (sexual, physical and emotional) acting upon severity of binge-eating and psychopathological symptoms in women with Bulimia-Spectrum Disorders (BSDs).

Methods: Women diagnosed with a BSD (n = 216) were assessed for childhood traumata, eating-disorder (ED) symptoms, and selected psychopathological features (sensation seeking, impulsivity, compulsivity and affective instability), and then provided blood samples for genotyping of main polymorphisms of dopamine-2 receptor (DRD2), dopamine transporter (DAT1) and catechol o-methyltransferase (COMT) genes.

Results: Sensation Seeking was elevated in carriers of the low-function allele of the DRD2 Taq1A polymorphism who also reported childhood sexual abuse, relative to that in individuals showing other combinations of alleles and abuse exposures.

Epistatic interactions implicating dopaminergic genes in bulimia nervosa (BN): relationships to eating- and personality-related psychopathology.

We explored the influence of interactions between polymorphisms acting upon postsynaptic receptors (DRD2 TaqA1 rs1800497 and DRD4 7R) and dopamine regulators (COMT rs4680 and DAT1) on the expression of eating symptoms and personality traits in women with bulimia-spectrum eating disorders. We had 269 bulimic women provide blood for genetic assays, and measured eating-disorder symptoms and psychopathological traits using structured interviews and self-report questionnaires. We observed two epistatic interactions on symptom indices: interactions (in predicted directions) of DRD2 by DAT were seen on Body Mass Index (p=.

Cortisol responses on the dexamethasone suppression test among women with Bulimia-spectrum eating disorders: associations with clinical symptoms.

Introduction: Evidence associates Bulimia Nervosa (BN) with altered functioning of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, but the clinical implications of such alterations need to be better understood. We contrasted cortisol responses to the dexamethasone suppression test (DST) in bulimic and non-eating disordered women and examined relationships among DST cortisol responses, eating symptoms and co-morbid disturbances.

Method: Sixty women with Bulimia Spectrum (BS) Disorders (either BN or normal weight Eating Disorder NOS with regular binge eating or purging) and 54 non-eating disordered women of similar age and body mass index participated in a 0.

Interaction of the BcII glucocorticoid receptor polymorphism and childhood abuse in Bulimia Nervosa (BN): relationship to BN and to associated trait manifestations.

We recently documented a gene-environment interaction suggesting that individuals with Bulimia Nervosa (BN) differed from normal eaters as to the combined presence of the low-function allele of the glucocorticoid receptor polymorphism, BcII, and childhood abuse. The present study examined the extent to which any such interaction effect may have been attributable to behavioral impulsivity, sensation seeking, affective instability or depression. We had 174 bulimic and 130 nonbulimic women provide blood for genetic assays, and measured psychopathological traits and childhood abuse using structured interviews and self-report questionnaires.

Childhood emotional abuse and eating symptoms in bulimic disorders: an examination of possible mediating variables.

Objective: We sought to estimate prevalences of childhood emotional abuse (CEA) in bulimic and normal-eater control groups, and to replicate previous findings linking CEA to severity of eating symptoms in BN. We also examined potential mediators of the link between CEA and disordered eating.

Method: Women diagnosed with a bulimic disorder (n = 176) and normal-eater women (n = 139) were assessed for childhood traumata, eating-disorder (ED) symptoms and psychopathological characteristics (ineffectiveness, perfectionism, depression, and affective instability) thought to be potential mediators of interest.

Neural circuits, neurotransmitters, and behavior: serotonin and temperament in bulimic syndromes.

In bulimia nervosa (BN), and in related binge-purge syndromes, factors affecting central serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) function appear to contribute not only to appetitive dysregulation but also to temperamental and personality manifestations. Drawing upon findings from neurobiological, molecular-genetic, and brain-imaging studies, we present an integrative model of the role of 5-HT function in bulimic syndromes. At the core of our model is a consideration of the ways in which diverse hereditary and environmental influences impact the action of the 5-HT system.

Contributions of the glucocorticoid receptor polymorphism (Bcl1) and childhood abuse to risk of bulimia nervosa.

This study evaluated the hypothesis that traumatic stress can increase risk of bulimia nervosa (BN) in individuals who are genetically disposed towards lower modulation of physiological stress reactions. We explored the extent to which childhood abuse (physical or sexual), variants of a main glucocorticoid receptor (GR) polymorphism (Bcl1), or their interaction, differentiated women with and without BN. Women seeking treatment for BN (N=129) and non-eating-disordered comparison women (N=98) provided blood samples for assays of the Bcl1 polymorphism, and completed structured interviews assessing eating symptoms, psychiatric symptoms and childhood abuse.

Serotonin-system polymorphisms (5-HTTLPR and -1438G/A) and responses of patients with bulimic syndromes to multimodal treatments.

Background: We tested the hypothesis that individuals carrying low-function alleles of the serotonin transporter (5-HTTLPR) and 5-HT(2A) receptor gene (-1438G/A) promoter polymorphisms would show relatively poor treatment responses on indices of bulimic and concurrent symptoms.

Method: Participants included 111 women with bulimia-spectrum eating disorders (DSM-IV-TR criteria), 98 of whom were followed through 4- to 8-month spans of specialized multimodal treatment to enable examination of relationships between genotypes and prospective changes in eating and general psychiatric symptoms. Given a hierarchically structured dataset and a desire to control for effects of variations in adjunctive pharmacotherapy, individual therapy, group therapy, or day treatment, we used multilevel modeling techniques.