Moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa patients do not have an altered bacterial composition in peripheral blood compared to healthy controls

Abstract

Background

Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease defined by recurrent nodules, tunnels and scarring involving the intertriginous skin. HS patients often report an array of systemic symptoms such as fatigue and malaise. The etiology of these symptoms remains unclear. Previously, various bacteria have been associated with mature HS lesions and bacteremia has been reported in HS patients using traditional culturing methods. Thus, we hypothesized that a low-grade bacteremia contributes to the symptomatology in HS patients.

Objective

To explore the potential presence of bacteraemia in HS patients and healthy controls.

Method

A case control study. Compositions of bacteria in the blood of 27 moderate to severe HS patients and 26 healthy controls were investigated using Next Generation 16S ribosomal RNA gene Sequencing (NGS) and routine anaerobic and aerobic blood culturing.

None of the participants received any antibiotics (systemic or topical therapy) within one month prior to the study. HS patients with a recent flare were randomly selected by consecutive recruitment of eligible patients from the Department of Dermatology, Zealand University Hospital, Denmark. Healthy controls were recruited from the University of Copenhagen as well as from the health care staff.

Results

The different bacterial compositions were investigated using NGS and traditional anaerobic and aerobic blood culturing. Our NGS analysis provided a previously unreported characterization of the bacterial composition in peripheral blood from HS patients and healthy controls. Overall, our data demonstrated that HS patients do not have a different bacterial composition in their peripheral blood than healthy controls.

Conclusion

The study suggests the self-reported symptoms in HS such as malaise and fatigue may not be linked to bacteremia.

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

http://ift.tt/2v11ulP

Killing two birds with one stone: response to pembrolizumab in a patient with metastatic melanoma and B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Abstract

Pembrolizumab, a humanized immunoglobulin G4 monoclonal antibody against PD-1, has demonstrated antitumor activity and a manageable safety profile in patients with different solid tumors and hematologic malignancies in multiple clinical trials (1-4). Although these data highlight the effectiveness of PD-1 pathway inhibition, some patients, even those with highly immunogenic tumors, such as melanoma, do not achieve objective response (1).

An increased association of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) and melanoma, possibly related to an underlying immunologic defect, has been previously reported (5). We still have limited data on the management of advanced stages of cancer duplicities.

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

http://ift.tt/2vktVXm

Loss-of-function mutations in filaggrin gene and malignant melanoma: a case control study

Abstract

Background

Loss-of-function mutations in filaggrin gene (FLG) have been suggested to increase the susceptibility of skin malignancies due to reduced levels of epidermal filaggrin and its degradation products, urocanic acid, which may be protective against ultraviolet irradiation.

Objective

We aimed to investigate the association between FLG mutation status and the occurrence of malignant melanoma (MM) in Danish adults.

Methods

The prevalence of FLG mutations in a sample of MM biopsies was compared with a FLG genotyped cohort from two general population studies. Pearson's chi-square and Fisher's exact tests were used to compare the two groups.

Results

A total of 867 MM biopsies and 9965 general population controls were genotyped, respectively. In the MM sample 2 (0.23%) individuals were homozygous and 80 (9.4%) heterozygous mutation carriers. In the general population controls the prevalence of FLG mutations was 18 (0.18%) and 835 (8.4%) for homozygous and heterozygous mutations, respectively. Fisher's exact test and Pearson's chi square test yielded non-significant p-values when the groups were compared.

Conclusion

FLG mutation was not associated with MM in the studied populations. This finding indicates that epidermal deficiency of filaggrin and its degradation products do not influence the risk of MM significantly.

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

http://ift.tt/2v1t8iS

Cutaneous disseminated sporotrichosis: Clinical experience of 24 cases

Abstract

Sporotrichosis is a subcutaneous mycosis, caused by complex Sporothrix schenckii, It is the most common implantation mycoses in worldwide. It is a polymorphic disease, cutaneous-lymphatic is the most frequent (75-90%).^1-3 We report our 25 years' experience (1990-2015) in cutaneous disseminated sporotrichosis (CDS). We conducted, an open, retrospective and observational study.

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

http://ift.tt/2vkjCT1

Melanoma and chronic exposure to contraceptives containing micro doses of ethinyl estradiol in young women: a retrospective study from the Research on Adverse Drug Events and Reports (RADAR) project comprising a large Midwestern U.S. patient population

Abstract

An association between the use of contraceptives containing exogenous estrogen compounds and subsequent diagnosis for malignant melanoma (MM) has been suspected for decades. This is, in part, due to the finding that estrogen stimulates melanogenesis¹ and the observation that the incidence of MM is greater in women vs. men before the age of 50, but lower than men after the age of 50², corresponding with the average age of menopause when estrogen levels dramatically decrease.

Prior studies assessing the relationship between the incidence of MM and exposure to exogenous estrogen provide conflicting results^3-6.

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

http://ift.tt/2v1hKDD

Trichothiodystrophy, complementation group A complicated with squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

There are three related, clinically defined disorders of DNA repair: xeroderma pigmentosum (XP), trichothiodystrophy (TTD) and Cockayne syndrome (CS).¹ Photosensitivity, neurological/developmental abnormalities, and skin cancer are important pathological features that can be used to distinguish between these three archetypes.^1,2 TTD is a rare, autosomal recessive disease characterized by brittle, sulfur-deficient hair and multisystem abnormalities.³

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

http://ift.tt/2vk7wJD

Unusually high prevalence of classical Kaposi's sarcoma in Druze Muslims of Northern Israel

Abstract

Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is a systemic disease that can present with cutaneous lesions with or without internal involvement. It is the most common vascular neoplasm. It can involve any skin surface, including the genitalia. ^1,2 KS limited to the external genitalia is rare in HIV sero-negative individuals. Kaposi sarcoma became known because of the correlation with AIDS-defining illnesses in the 1980s.³

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

http://ift.tt/2v0T66a