Serum levels of squamous cell carcinoma antigens 1 and 2 reflect disease severity and clinical type of atopic dermatitis in adult patients

Background: Recent studies have indicated that serum levels of squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCCA) 1 and 2 induced by type 2 cytokines such as IL-4 and IL-13, are increased in patients with atopic dermatitis (AD). However, no clinical studies have analyzed serum levels of SCCA2 in larger series of AD patients or their association with various clinical characteristics. This study was performed to clarify whether serum levels of SCCA2 are associated with disease severity and clinical phenotypes of adult AD patients. Methods: An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was performed to examine serum SCCA2 levels in 240 adult patients with AD and 25 healthy controls in this study. Serum SCCA2 levels were analyzed with clinical characteristics and laboratory parameters including thymus and activation-regulated chemokine (TARC), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), blood eosinophils, total IgE, and specific IgE (Japanese cedar pollen, Dermatophagoides farina, Candida, malassezia, Staphylococcal enterotoxin B). Expression of SCCA2 in AD eruption was examined by immunohistochemistry. The effect of treatment on serum SCCA2 was also assessed. Results: Serum SCCA2 level showed a positive correlation with disease severity, levels of TARC, LDH, eosinophil counts, and IgE levels. Robust expression of SCCA2 was detected in the supra basal keratinocytes in the epidermis of AD patients. Serial measurements of serum SCCA2 revealed decreased levels of SCCA2 after treatment for AD. Conclusions: Serum SCCA2 levels reflected disease severity and clinical type of AD. Serum SCCA2 may thus be a relevant biomarker for AD

Genome-Wide Association Study of Peripheral Arterial Disease in a Japanese Population.

Characteristics of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) are the occlusion or stenosis of multiple vessel sites caused mainly by atherosclerosis and chronic lower limb ischemia. To identify PAD susceptible loci, we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) with 785 cases and 3,383 controls in a Japanese population using 431,666 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP). After staged analyses including a total of 3,164 cases and 20,134 controls, we identified 3 novel PAD susceptibility loci at IPO5/RAP2A, EDNRA and HDAC9 with genome wide significance (combined P = 6.8 x 10-14, 5.3 x 10-9 and 8.8 x 10-8, respectively). Fine-mapping at the IPO5/RAP2A locus revealed that rs9584669 conferred risk of PAD. Luciferase assay showed that the risk allele at this locus reduced expression levels of IPO5. To our knowledge, these are the first genetic risk factors for PAD