Morbidity and Causes of Death in Patients with Cutaneous T-cell Lymphoma in Finland

Cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCL), especially mycosis fungoides, can be considered as a state of longstanding low-grade systemic inflammation. Many studies have focused on secondary cancers with CTCL, but information about comorbidities is limited. A total of 144 patients with CTCL at Helsinki University Central Hospital during 2005 to 2015 were studied to determine associated comorbidities and causes of death in this cohort. Compared with an age-standardized control population, the prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus was increased among patients with CTCL with no link to obesity. Patients with CTCL had a lower prevalence of hypertension, myocardial infarction and stroke than the control group. The 3 most common causes of death were CTCL, coronary artery disease and lung cancer. The increased risk of myocardial infarction or stroke reported previously was not detected in this patient group.Peer reviewe

Ten-year Experience of Bexarotene Therapy for Cutaneous T-cell Lymphoma in Finland

Peer reviewe

Successful Amplification of DNA Specific for Finnish Borrelia burgdorferi Isolates in Erythema Chronicum Migrans but Not in Circumscribed Scleroderma Lesions

Early diagnosis of Borrelia burgdorferi infection, hampered by the absence of detectable antibodies in most patients with erythema chronicum migrans is important to prevent late-stage neurologic, rheumatologic, and skin disorders. Furthermore, B. burgdorferi has been claimed to be the causative agent in localized scleroderma (morphea). We used PCR amplification to search for B. burgdorferi outer surface protein OspA–specific sequences in DNA obtained from lesional skin biopsies on Finnish patients with clinically suspect erythema chronicum migrans, lymphocytoma, morphea, or with diverse skin manifestations and persistent high antibodies to B. burgdorferi flagellar antigen. Seronegative patients with other skin lesions served as controls. The amplicons obtained with primers specific for B. burgdorferi type strain B31 ospA sequence did not hybridize to the corresponding probes, and thus the DNA amplified from a Finnish B. burgdorferi erythema chronicum migrans skin isolate was sequenced. This 98-nucleotide sequence of ospA (332–429) showed 11% to 14% nucleotide divergence compared with the North American type strain (B31), several European strains, and an East Siberian tick strain. The sequence was almost identical (99%) to a Swedish isolate from acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans. Using oligonucleotides specific for the Finnish strain, a positive polymerase chain reaction – based hybridization was obtained in six of seven untreated erythema chronicum migrans patients infected in Finland or in Estonia, and in the lymphocytoma patient. Only two of the erythema chronicum migrans patients had IgG or IgM antibodies to flagellin. However, all seven morphea lesions as well as the other lesions were polymerase chain reaction negative. Polymerase chain reaction – based hybridization ofB. burgdoferi OspA gene from skin-derived DNA thus provides a sensitive and specific diagnostic tool. In conditions not unequivocally known to be caused by B. burgdorferi in morphea, this assay was negative. We also demonstrate that peri-Baltic B. burgdorferi isolates show homology in their OspA genes but differ from geographically more distant isolates

Dysplastic melanocytic nevus

Peer reviewe

Intralesional Rituximab Treatment for Primary Cutaneous B-cell Lymphoma : Nine Finnish Cases

Non peer reviewe

Neutralizing natural anti-IL-17F autoantibodies protect Autoimmune Polyendocrine Syndrome Type 1 (APS-1) patients from asthma

Non peer reviewe

Generation and Characterization of iPS Cells Derived from APECED Patients for Gene Correction

APECED (Autoimmune-Polyendocrinopathy-Candidiasis-Ectodermal-Dystrophy) is a severe and incurable multiorgan autoimmune disease caused by mutations in the AIRE (autoimmune regulator) gene. Without functional AIRE, the development of central and peripheral immune tolerance is severely impaired allowing the accumulation of autoreactive immune cells in the periphery. This leads to multiple endocrine and non-endocrine autoimmune disorders and mucocutaneous candidiasis in APECED patients. Recent studies have suggested that AIRE also has novel functions in stem cells and contributes to the regulatory network of pluripotency. In preparation of therapeutic gene correction, we generated and assessed patient blood cell-derived iPSCs, potentially suitable for cell therapy in APECED. Here, we describe APECED-patient derived iPSCs's properties, expression of AIRE as well as classical stem cell markers by qPCR and immunocytochemistry. We further generated self-aggregated EBs of the iPSCs. We show that APECED patient-derived iPSCs and EBs do not have any major proliferative or apoptotic defects and that they express all the classical pluripotency markers similarly to healthy person iPSCs. The results suggest that the common AIRE R257X truncation mutation does not affect stem cell properties and that APECED iPSCs can be propagated in vitro and used for subsequent gene-correction. This first study on APECED patient-derived iPSCs validates their pluripotency and confirms their ability for differentiation and potential therapeutic use.Peer reviewe

Chlamydiales Bacterial Sequences in Lesional and Healthy Skin of Patients with Parapsoriasis

Peer reviewe

Granuloma Annulare and Morphea : Correlation with Borrelia burgdorferi Infections and Chlamydia-related Bacteria

A retrospective study of 109 skin biopsies with granuloma annulare (GA) or morphea histology from patients with suspected tick bite was performed. Biopsies were tested for cutaneous Borrelia burgdorferi DNA using PCR. The same biopsies were analysed for tick-borne novel agents, Chlamydia-related bacteria (members of the Chlamydiales order), using a PCR-based method. Borrelia DNA was detected in 7/73 (9.6%) biopsies with GA and in 1/36 (2.8 %) biopsies with morphea, while Chlamydiales DNA was found in 53/73 (72.6%) biopsies with GA and 25/34 (73.4%) biopsies with morphea. All Borrelia DNA-positive GA samples were also positive for Chlamydiales DNA. The Chlamydiales sequences detected in GA were heterogeneous and contained Waddliaceae and Rhabdochlamydiaceae bacteria, which are also present in Ixodes ricinus ticks, while the Chlamydiales sequences detected in morphea closely resembled those found in healthy skin. In conclusion, tick-mediated infections can trigger GA in some cases, while correlation of either Borrelia or Chlamydiales with morphea is unlikely.Peer reviewe