Nail involvements as an indicator of skin severity in psoriatic patients

Psoriasis is a recurrent chronic inflammatory skin disease with various mild to severe clinical manifestations. The relationship between severity of the skin lesions and nail involvement has always been underestimated.Aim of the study was to evaluate the severity of skin involvement in psoriatic patients with and without nail manifestations.In this analytic cross-sectional study, patients with psoriasis referred to Razi University Hospital of Rasht from November 2015 to March 2016 were enrolled. Demographical features (i.e. age, gender) were obtained. Psoriasis severity and nail involvement criteria were assessed by Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) and Nail Psoriasis Severity Index (NAPSI), respectively. All the gathered data were analyzed by SPSS software.In this study, 71 psoriatic patients with a mean age of 39.23±17.9 years (mean ± Standard Deviation; range: 4 to 77 years old) were studied. 22 patients (31%) had nail involvements. PASI scores were 11.7±5.7 and 5.7±4.5 in the two groups with and without nail involvements, respectively (P&lt;0.001). There were no significant differences between age, age of onset, and duration of the disease between the two groups (P&gt;0.05).The correlation coefficient between PASI and NAPSI was 0.367, which was statistically significant (P&lt;0.001).Based on the findings of our study, nail involvement is an important criterion in determining the severity of skin manifestations in psoriatic patients. Additionally, a high percentage of such patients probably manifest both skin and nail manifestations. Therefore it is highly recommended to consider nail involvement when evaluating psoriasis. </p

Association between Immunofluorescence Pattern and Mucosal Involvement in Patients with Bullous Pemphigoid

Bullous pemphigoid is an acquired autoimmune subepidermal blistering disease which is associated with mucocutaneous lesions. The type and amount of autoantibody deposition may have a role in mucosal lesions. We studied the association between mucosal involvement and direct immunofluorescence pattern in cutaneous lesions of patients with bullous pemphigoid. In this retrospective analytical cross-sectional study, we studied the demographic data, clinical presentations, and immunopathological findings of 69 patients with bullous pemphigoid admitted to our hospital 2008-2016. Patients were allocated into two groups on the basis of the mucosal involvement, and direct immunofluorescence patterns were evaluated. The data were analyzed using SPSS version18. The mean age of patients was 70.9±14.97 (mean ± Standard Deviation) years old. In our study, 56.5% of patients were women. All patients showed deposition of IgG and C3 in the dermoepidermal junction, with different severity. Patients with mucosal involvement (40.6% of cases) had a more prominent deposition of IgG, IgA, and C3 at the dermoepidermal junction compared with patients without mucosal involvement, which represented a statistically significant difference (P&lt;0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that lower age, IgA, and C3 deposition (P&lt;0.05) were associated with mucosal involvement. Deposition of IgA and C3 (in addition to IgG) at the dermoepidermal junction seems to be a marker of mucosal involvement in patients with bullous pemphigoid. Attention to direct immunofluorescence pattern in patients with bullous pemphigoid may be helpful in prediction of mucosal involvement in these patients. </p

Whole Transcriptome-Based Skin Virome Profiling in Typical Epidermodysplasia Verruciformis Reveals α-, β-, and γ-HPV Infections

HPVs are DNA viruses include approximately 450 types that are classified into 5 genera (α-, β-, γ-, μ-, and ν-HPV). The γ- and β-HPVs are present in low copy numbers in healthy individuals; however, in patients with an inborn error of immunity, certain species of β-HPVs can cause epidermodysplasia verruciformis (EV), manifesting as recalcitrant cutaneous warts and skin cancer. EV presents as either typical or atypical. Manifestations of typical EV are limited to the skin and are caused by abnormal keratinocyte-intrinsic immunity to β-HPVs due to pathogenic sequence variants in TMC6, TMC8, or CIB1. We applied a transcriptome-based computational pipeline, VirPy, to RNA extracted from normal-appearing skin and wart samples of patients with typical EV to explore the viral and human genetic determinants. In 26 patients, 9 distinct biallelic mutations were detected in TMC6, TMC8, and CIB1, 7 of which are previously unreported to our knowledge. Additionally, 20 different HPV species, including 3 α-HPVs, 16 β-HPVs, and 1 γ-HPV, were detected, 8 of which are reported here for the first time to our knowledge in patients with EV (β-HPV-37, -47, -80, -151, and -159; α-HPV-2 and -57; and γ-HPV-128). This study expands the TMC6, TMC8, and CIB1 sequence variant spectrum and implicates new HPV subtypes in the pathogenesis of typical EV

Multiple COVID reinfections in a vaccinated psoriatic patient receiving adalimumab

Currently, psoriasis patients are advised to follow their standard therapeutic regimen, and are advised to be vaccinated against Covid-19. However, the data about the antibody responses, induced by the various kinds of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in psoriasis patients who require systemic immunosuppressive treatment is scant. In this case report, we describe antibody responses induced by COVID-19 vaccine, in a 26-year-old male patient with psoriasis being treated with anti-TNF biotherapy, adalimumab biosimilar every two weeks. The patient was vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the national protocol. He experienced three episodes of symptomatic COVID-19. His first and second exposures did not result in antibody production. After the third episode of COVID-19, The SARS-CoV-2 anti-spike antibody (IgG) was more than 100 Ru/mL (ELISA; ≥8 Ru/mL is considered positive), and SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody (total) was more than 40 micg/mL (ELISA; ≥2.5 micg/mL is considered positive). This is the first case with weak antibody response to vaccination and multiple episodes of COVID infection in a psoriatic patient with adalimumab biosimilar. However, we cannot assume causality due to the treatment

The association between atorvastatin administration and plasma total homocysteine levels in renal transplant recipients

Background: Statins improve prognosis in patients with coronary heart diseases by decreasing the incidence of vascular events. Excess prevalence of hyperhomocysteinemia, an independent risk factor of cardiovascular diseases, has been observed in stable renal transplant recipients (RTRs). Objectives: The objective of our study was to evaluate the association between atorvastatin administration and plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) levels in RTRs. Patients and Methods: We performed a retrospective cross-sectional study in 148 cyclosporine A (CsA) treated stable RTRs. We compared tHcy level and other demographic and clinical variables in RTRs with and without atorvastatin. Results: 58.1% of the 148 RTRs were treated with atorvastatin (20-40 mg/day). Mean tHcy levels were lower in patients treated with atorvastatin compared to nonusers (14.80 ± 5.13 µmol/l versus 16.95 ± 7.87 µmol/l, P = 0.04). The comparison of 85 patients treated with atorvastatin and 61 non-users revealed that those subjects with atorvastatin were older, with higher estimated creatinine clearance and elevated body mass index (BMI). They were more likely to have higher systolic blood pressure and CsA trough level (C0). The association between lower tHcy levels and atorvastatin use was confirmed in the multivariate regression model (P = 0.004). However tHcy levels were independently and negatively associated with serum folate (P = 0.0001) and vitamin B12 levels (P = 0.001) and positively with serum BUN (P = 0.001) and diastolic blood pressure (P = 0.024) as well. Conclusions: These data support the association between lower tHcy levels and atorvastatin administration in RTRs. Further clinical trials are recommended to clarify homocysteine lowering effect of atorvastatin

Miliarial type pseudolymphoma mimicking as granulomatous rosacea

Miliarial type lymphocytoma cutis is a rare type of psuedolymphoma which is described by numerous semi-translucent papules on the sun exposed regions. Herein, we present a 25-year-old woman with numerous permanent translucent tiny papules on the face. Microscopic examination revealed dense infiltration of lymphocytes in the reticular dermis with lymphoid follicle formation and significant B-cell lymphocytes in immunohistochemistry study. She was diagnosed as miliarial type pseudolymphoma and treated with topical momethasone furoate ointment and oral hydroxychloroquine with a good response

A 36-Year-Old Renal Transplant Recipient Female with Leg Ulcer: A Case Report and Brief Review

Background. Opportunistic infections are common in organ transplant recipients. After 6 months of transplantation, patients have the highest risk of opportunistic infections such as cryptococcosis. Case Presentation. The report presents the case of a 36-year-old female renal transplant recipient, with complaints of few subcutaneous painful and warm nodules and large, warm, erythematous, nontender plaques on the mildly edematous right leg and ankle. Incisional biopsy of the subcutaneous nodule over the leg showed panniculitis with small- to medium-sized vasculitis associated with round yeast forms, and culture of the fragments revealed C. neoformans var. grubii. Conclusions. This article also reviews in brief the treatment of this rare complication. Reviewing the literature showed that since the cryptococcal cutaneous lesions are often nonspecific, the clinical picture solely is not enough to construct a definite diagnosis and there must be a high clinical suspicion