Evaluation of prolactin levels in patients with newly diagnosed pemphigus vulgaris and its correlation with pemphigus disease area index.

Background: Prolactin is a hormone; in addition to it known roles, it has immunomodulatory effects on lymphocytes maturation and immunoglobulins production. Hyperprolactinemia has been demonstrated in various autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, type I diabetes mellitus, and Graves' disease. In view of the prolactin immunomodulatory roles, studying prolactin levels in pemphigus as an autoimmune blistering disease may introduce new ways of understanding disease etiology and developing treatment strategies.

Arteriovenous Malformation Underlying a Plexiform Neurofibroma: An Unusual Presentation.

Vascular abnormalities associated with neurofibromatosis type 1 are well described in the literature, however, arteriovenous malformation is a very rare finding in neurofibromatosis type 1. We report the case of an 11-year-old girl who presented with a soft mass on the right flank. Provisional diagnosis of plexiform neurofibroma was made on the basis of clinical and histological observations.