Investigation of interleukin-12, interleukin-17 and interleukin-23 receptor gene polymorphisms in alopecia areata

Objective To investigate the distribution of interleukin (IL)-12 (IL12; 1188A/C), IL17 (A7488G) and IL-23 receptor (IL23R; +2199A/C) gene polymorphisms in patients with alopecia areata

Investigation of interleukin-12, interleukin-17 and interleukin-23 receptor gene polymorphisms in alopecia areata

Objective To investigate the distribution of interleukin (IL)-12 (IL12; 1188A/C), IL17 (A7488G) and IL-23 receptor (IL23R; +2199A/C) gene polymorphisms in patients with alopecia areata

Low-dose and short-term cyclosporine treatment in patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria: A clinical and immunological evaluation

The present study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of 2.5 mg/kg/day cyclosporin (CsA) treatment in patients with severe chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU) and the impact of CsA treatment on several cytokines involved in the etiopathogenesis of CIU. Twenty-seven CIU patients and 24 healthy control subjects were included in the study. The autologous serum skin test (ASST) for autoantibodies and urticaria activity scoring (UAS) were measured for the evaluation of the clinical severity and the response to therapy, and the serum levels of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, IL-2 receptor, IL-1 beta, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and IL-5 were measured. The mean UAS score was 32.07 +/- 7.05 and 6.22 +/- 3.84 before and after CsA treatment, respectively. The serum IL-2 receptor, TNF-alpha and IL-5 levels of patients before CsA treatment were statistically higher than those of the control group (P = 0.001), and after 4 weeks of CsA therapy the mean IL-2R, TNF-alpha and IL-5 levels were significantly decreased. The data from this study demonstrate that CsA therapy is efficient and safe for CIU patients. Increase in clinical efficacy and marked decreases in serum cytokine levels suggest that inhibition of cytokine generation is involved in the action of the drug in this clinical setting

The prevalance, epidemiology and risk factors for onychomycosis in hemodialysis patients

PubMedID: 17760994Background: Onychomycosis has a high prevalance among immunocompromised patients such as diabetics and hemodialysis patients. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the prevalence of onychomycosis among hemodialysis patients with and without diabetes mellitus, and to find out the factors likely to be associated with the development of onychomycosis among hemodialysis patients. Methods: One hundred and nine hemodialysis patients were enrolled. Fifty-seven of hemodialysis patients had the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus. Nail scrapings were obtained from 76 patients who had dystrophic nail changes. Samples were examined with 20% potassium hydroxide solution and all of the samples were inoculated on Saboraud's dextrose agar, potateus dextrose agar and mycobiotic agar. Diagnosis of onychomycosis was based on the presence of both positive clinical signs and positive potassium hydroxide test. Results: Onychomycosis was diagnosed in 26.6% of hemodialysis patients. Diabetes mellitus was present in 68.9% of patients with onychomycosis. Toenail scraping cultures were reported to be positive in 19.7% of patients with dystrophic nail changes. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the presence of diabetes mellitus and the mean duration of hemodialysis were the significant predictors associated with the development of onychomycosis. Conclusion: The prevalence of dystrophic nail changes and onychomycosis is increased among hemodialysis patients. The dialysis duration and the presence of diabetes mellitus are the independent risk factors associated with the development of onychomycosis in uraemic patients. © 2007 Kuvandik et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd