Treatment and Burden of Disease in a Cohort of Patients with Prurigo Nodularis:A Survey-based Study

Prurigo nodularis is a pruritic dermatosis with poor treatment options. To describe treatment patterns, comorbidities, pruritus, and quality of life a survey was administered to 92 patients with prurigo nodularis. A total of 52 patients completed the survey. The most frequently used treatments were topical corticosteroids, which were prescribed to 49/52 patients, with positive effect in 13/49. A total of 46/52 patients were treated with ultraviolet B, and 9/46 reported a positive effect. A positive effect was reported for topical corticosteroids under occlusion in 21/40, for zinc dressing treatment in 17/37, for steroid injection in 9/14, for methotrexate in 5/16, and for thalidomide in 4/12 of treated patients. Thirty-six patients reported a Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index >5, indicating poor sleep. Patients with prurigo nodularis are severely bothered by pruritus negatively affecting quality of life. Various treatments are prescribed; most frequently topical corticosteroids and ultraviolet B. Surprisingly, patients reported topical corticosteroids under occlusion, zinc-dressing treatment and steroid injection as the most effective

Psoriasis as a Predictor of Cardiometabolic Comorbidity in Women:A Study Based on the Danish National Birth Cohort

Psoriasis is associated with cardiometabolic comorbidity; however, whether this is due to common lifestyle-related risk factors is unclear. This study investigated the association between psoriasis and cardiometabolic comorbidity, taking body mass index and smoking into account. The population comprised expectant mothers in the Danish National Birth Cohort (established 1996–2002). During pregnancy, the women were asked about physician-diagnosed psoriasis. Any association with self-reported cardiometabolic comorbidity 11 years later was assessed using logistic regression. The cohort was also followed up for hospital-diagnosed comorbidity, including cardiac death, until 31 December 2014, and the risk was assessed using Cox regression. A total of 2,435 women with psoriasis (2.90%) and 81,388 women without were identified. Psoriasis was significantly associated with self-reported hypercholesterolaemia (adjusted odds ratio 1.31; 1.01–1.70) and hospital-diagnosed hypertension (adjusted hazard ratio 1.33; 1.08–1.65). Women with psoriasis have an increased risk of developing cardiometabolic comorbidity in early adult life

Gene Expression Time Course in the Human Skin during Elicitation of Allergic Contact Dermatitis

Genes involved in the inflammatory response resulting in allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) are only partly known. In this study, we introduce the use of high-density oligonucleotide arrays for gene expression profiling in human skin during the elicitation of ACD. Skin biopsies from normal and nickel-exposed skin were obtained from seven nickel-allergic patients and five nonallergic controls at four different time points during elicitation of eczema. Each gene expression profile was analyzed by hybridization to high-density oligonucleotide arrays. Cluster analysis of 74 genes found to be differentially expressed in the patients over time revealed that the patient samples may be categorized into two groups: an early time-point group (no clinical reaction) and a late time-point group (clinical reaction). Bioinformatics analyses unraveled the potential involvement of signal transducers and activator of transcription and small/mothers against decepentaplegic (SMAD) transcription factors in the late time-point gene expression patterns. Concerning specific genes, the homeostatic chemokine CCL19 was unexpectedly found to be highly expressed in cells scattered in the deep dermis of the late time-point samples. Taken together, these findings suggest hitherto unknown roles of SMAD transcription factors and of CCL19 in the elicitation phase of ACD