H.N. Liu

Comorbidity profiles among patients with bullous pemphigoid: a nationwide population-based study.

Background  Bullous pemphigoid (BP) has been associated with neurological and psychiatric diseases; however, large‐scale population‐based study of different comorbid diseases in patients with BP is quite limited.

Malignancies associated with dermatomyositis and polymyositis in Taiwan: a nationwide population-based study

Background  Previous studies showed that idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM) carried an increased risk of cancers. However, no large‐scale study of IIM has been conducted in the Chinese population.

Cutaneous Rosai–Dorfman disease: clinicopathological profiles, spectrum and evolution of 21 lesions in six patients

Background  An uncommon histiocytosis primarily involving the lymph nodes, Rosai–Dorfman disease (RDD, originally called sinus histiocytosis with massive lymphadenopathy) involves extranodal sites in 43% of cases; cutaneous RDD (C‐RDD) is a rare form of RDD limited to the skin. The clinicopathological diagnosis of C‐RDD may sometimes be difficult, with different clinical profiles from those of its nodal counterpart, and occasionally misleading histological pictures. There have been few multipatient studies of C‐RDD and documentation of its histological spectrum is rare.

Cytokine gene polymorphisms in Chinese patients with psoriasis

Background  Previous studies have shown that cytokine gene polymorphisms may confer susceptibility to psoriasis.

Amyloid-Beta (Aβ) D7H Mutation Increases Oligomeric Aβ42 and Alters Properties of Aβ-Zinc/Copper Assemblies

Amyloid precursor protein (APP) mutations associated with familial Alzheimers disease (AD) usually lead to increases in amyloid β-protein (Aβ) levels or aggregation. Here, we identified a novel APP mutation, located within the Aβ sequence (AβD7H), in a Taiwanese family with early onset AD and explored the pathogenicity of this mutation. Cellular and biochemical analysis reveal that this mutation increased Aβ production, Aβ42/40 ratio and prolonged Aβ42 oligomer state with higher neurotoxicity. Because the D7H mutant Aβ has an additional metal ion-coordinating residue, histidine, we speculate that this mutation may promote susceptibility of Aβ to ion. When co-incubated with Zn2+ or Cu2+, AβD7H aggregated into low molecular weight oligomers. Together, the D7H mutation could contribute to AD pathology through a “double punch” effect on elevating both Aβ production and oligomerization. Although the pathogenic nature of this mutation needs further confirmation, our findings suggest that the Aβ N-terminal region potentially modulates APP processing and Aβ aggregation, and further provides a genetic indication of the importance of Zn2+ and Cu2+ in the etiology of AD.

Psoriasis vulgaris in Chinese individuals is associated with PSORS1C3 and CDSN genes

Background  Besides the HLA‐Cw*0602 allele, the psoriasis susceptibility 1 candidate 3 (PSORS1C3) and corneodesmosin (CDSN) genes are two probable psoriasis susceptibility genes in the PSORS1 locus. The −79C, −26C and +246A alleles of the PSORS1C3 gene, the CDSN*971T allele, CDSN*TTC (619T–1236T–1243C) and CDSN*5 (619T–1240G–1243C) are strongly associated with psoriasis in the caucasian population. Until now, no haplotype study of the PSORS1C3 and CDSN genes has been documented in Chinese patients with psoriasis vulgaris.

No association of cytokine gene polymorphisms in Chinese patients with atopic dermatitis

Background.  Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common chronically relapsing skin disease associated with the activation of T‐helper 2 cells. Recent studies have shown that polymorphisms in the genes for interleukin (IL)‐4, the IL‐4 receptor, IL‐13, and signal transducer and activator 6 (STAT6) may contribute to susceptibility of AD. To date, no cytokine gene polymorphism study has been conducted on Chinese patients with AD.

Psychiatric comorbidities in patients with alopecia areata in Taiwan: a case–control study

Background  Alopecia areata (AA) may be related to stress and has been reported to be associated with psychiatric disorders. Nevertheless, a nationwide study of the relationship between AA and comorbid psychiatric diseases has not been conducted, and the effect of onset age has rarely been reported.

A study of PSORS1C1 gene polymorphisms in Chinese patients with psoriasis

Background  Although genetic analyses have identified the HLA‐Cw*0602 allele as the major risk allele for chronic plaque psoriasis in various ethnic groups, it has been proposed that the association of Cw*0602 is due to linkage disequilibrium and that other nearby genes are involved in susceptibility to psoriasis. The psoriasis susceptibility 1 candidate 1 (PSORS1C1, formerly SEEK1) gene, located 127 kb telomeric to the HLA‐C locus, is considered to be one of the potential candidate genes of psoriasis. Up to the present, no association study of the PSORS1C1 gene has been conducted on Chinese patients with psoriasis.

Characteristic dermoscopic features of primary cutaneous amyloidosis: a study of 35 cases

Background  Primary cutaneous amyloidosis (PCA) is a relatively common skin disorder among Asians and South Americans. It is usually diagnosed clinically. However, for cases with atypical presentations, the diagnosis can be a challenge and skin biopsy may be necessary. Dermoscopy has been proved to be a valuable, noninvasive tool in the diagnosis of cutaneous pigmented diseases. Most lesions of PCA show hyperpigmentation and the major histopathological abnormalities of PCA occur in the epidermis and dermal papillae. Dermoscopy might be a powerful tool to provide valuable information for the diagnosis of PCA.