The role of dendritic cells in the immunopathogenesis of psoriasis

Psoriasis vulgaris is a chronic inflammatory skin disease that is marked by a complex interplay of dendritic cells (DCs), T-cells, cytokines, and downstream transcription factors as part of a self-sustaining type 1 cytokine network. As integral players of the immune system, DCs represent antigen-presenting cells that are crucial for efficient activation of T-cells and B-cells. DCs have also been linked to distinct chronic inflammatory conditions, including psoriasis. In the setting of psoriasis therapy, DC/T cell interactions serve as a potential target for biologic response modifiers. Here we describe the major DC subsets as well as the immunologic involvement of DCs within the context of psoriatic lesions

Hepatitis C and cutaneous alterations

While most of those infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) are asymptomatic or only develop liver manifestations, a significant percentage evolves with autoimmune and lymphoproliferative disorders, resulting in a clinical condition called HCV syndrome. This work involving case studies of six patients with hepatitis C and varied skin manifestation aimed to report skin lesions occurring with HCV infection and its treatment. Skin manifestations in hepatitis C have been based on epidemiological studies. This justifies the need for studies that correlate HCV infection and its treatment with skin manifestations

Could relatedness help explain why individuals lead in bottlenose dolphin groups?

In many species, particular individuals consistently lead group travel. While benefits to followers often are relatively obvious, including access to resources, benefits to leaders are often less obvious. This is especially true for species that feed on patchy mobile resources where all group members may locate prey simultaneously and food intake likely decreases with increasing group size. Leaders in highly complex habitats, however, could provide access to foraging resources for less informed relatives, thereby gaining indirect benefits by helping kin. Recently, leadership has been documented in a population of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) where direct benefits to leaders appear unlikely. To test whether leaders could benefit indirectly we examined relatedness between leader-follower pairs and compared these levels to pairs who associated but did not have leader-follower relationship (neither ever led the other). We found the average relatedness value for leader-follower pairs was greater than expected based on chance. The same was not found when examining non leader-follower pairs. Additionally, relatedness for leader-follower pairs was positively correlated with association index values, but no correlation was found for this measure in non leader-follower pairs. Interestingly, haplotypes were not frequently shared between leader-follower pairs (25%). Together, these results suggest that bottlenose dolphin leaders have the opportunity to gain indirect benefits by leading relatives. These findings provide a potential mechanism for the maintenance of leadership in a highly dynamic fission-fusion population with few obvious direct benefits to leaders

Tratamento sistêmico da psoríase - Parte II: Imunomoduladores biológicos Systemic treatment of psoriasis - Part II: Biologic immunomodulator agents

Em continuidade ao capítulo da edição anterior dos Anais Brasileiros de Dermatologia, nesta segunda parte da EMC-D serão discutidas as novas drogas, os imunomoduladores biológicos, que agem em determinadas fases da imunopatogênese da doença, modificando fenotipicamente sua evolução. Também serão discutidos alguns aspectos imunológicos que, atualmente, são responsáveis pelo desencadeamento da doença<br>As part of its continued studies of psoriasis, this second part of the Continuing Medical Education in Dermatology segment of the Anais Brasileiros de Dermatologia introduces biological immunomodulators. Also known as "biologics", these drugs act on the immunopathogenetic steps of psoriasis by changing its features and progression. This paper also reviews some of the immunologic aspects of psoriasis