P. Stavropoulos

The role of inflammatory markers in assessing disease severity and response to treatment in patients with psoriasis treated with etanercept

Background.  Psoriasis is a chronic, systemic, inflammatory disease. Inflammatory markers are used in clinical practice to detect acute inflammation, and as markers of treatment response. Etanercept blocks tumour necrosis factor (TNF)‐α, which plays a central role in the psoriatic inflammation process.

Malignant Syphilis in HIV-Infected Patients

ABSTRACT: Two cases of atypical syphilis in HIV‐infected patients assuming characteristics of malignant syphilis are described with special emphasis on the peculiarities of histologic and immunohistochemical findings.

Atopic dermatitis: new immunologic aspects

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a pruritic, inflammatory skin disease that typically occurs in early childhood. AD follows a chronic and relapsing course, and is considered to be part of an atopic state. Clinical manifestations of this atopic state include asthma, allergic rhinitis, allergic conjunctivitis, and food allergies. Usually, AD precedes these allergic disorders. Anaphylaxis, urticaria, and dyshidrotic eczema are also associated with atopic state disorders. The disease has a complex genetic background with many genes involved (multigenic). When both parents are affected by AD, up to 81% of their children manifest the disease. When one parent is affected, the prevalence drops to 56%. 1

Pathogenesis of subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus

Subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus (SCLE) is a photosensitive form of lupus‐specific skin lesion that is strongly associated with the presence of anti‐Ro/SSA autoantibody. The pathogenesis of SCLE includes genetic, environmental and immunologic factors. Recent studies provide strong evidence for the involvement of innate and cell‐mediated immunity, underlying the important role of plasmacytoid dendritic cells, interferon‐α and antibody‐dependent cell cytotoxicity. In addition, a variety of cytokines, chemokines and adhesion molecules have been found to participate in the expansion phase of the autoimmune effector mechanisms. This article summarizes the recent immunological findings and reviews the current mechanisms which are implied in the development of the disease.

Infliximab for the treatment of psoriasis in Greece: 4 years of clinical experience at a single centre.

Background  Infliximab, a chimeric monoclonal antibody, has been shown to be effective for moderate to severe psoriasis. Clinical experience with long‐term infliximab therapy for psoriasis is accumulating, and it is therefore important to share our experience with its use in real‐life clinical practice.

Etanercept in severe, recalcitrant psoriasis: clinical response, safety profile and predictors of response based on a single institution's experience.

© 2009 The Authors JEADV 2009, 23, 954–982 Journal compilation

Correlation of antibodies against desmogleins 1 and 3 with indirect immunofluorescence and disease status in a Greek population with pemphigus vulgaris.

Background  The use of ELISA testing of antibodies to desmogleins 1 and 3 (anti‐Dsg1 and anti‐Dsg3) and indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) has been strongly supported for the serologic diagnosis of pemphigus. The purpose of this study was to correlate anti‐Dsg1 and anti‐Dsg3 with IIF values, disease localization, treatment and clinical course in Greek patients with pemphigus vulgaris (PV).

Effectiveness of topical calcineurin inhibitors as monotherapy or in combination with hydroxychloroquine in cutaneous lupus erythematosus.

Background  Calcineurin inhibitors show potent anti‐inflammatory effects and favorable safety profile when used in the treatment of cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE).

Etanercept: effectiveness and safety data of a retrospective study.

were smokers compared to 34% of control data, obtained from the Health Promotion Authority for Wales (P < 0.001). Rosacea was described as a disease of non-smokers. They did not analyse the risk separately for ex-smokers and non-smokers. Abram et al. recently demonstrated in a larger study that ex-smokers were most affected by rosacea. Among 440 patients, 170 had rosacea, 53 had only flush and 217 were controls. The status of ex-smoking, analysed in a multivariate analysis, was a risk for rosacea patients but not for flushers only. Our results could be attributable to smaller sample size than those in Abram et al. study and the inclusion of recently ex-smokers in the group of ex-smokers in their study. Tobacco may prevent or improve some inflammatory diseases. Nicotine is known to play an anti-inflammatory role. Recently, cathelicidin have been implicated in skin inflammation in rosacea and modifications of the microflora in rosacea. The effect of nicotine on cathelicidin should be investigated.

Multiple trichogranulomas in a hairdresser

Horikawa et al. found that b-FGF may have a role in vitiligo healing. In our study, we did not observe any statistically significant difference between the study and the control group in terms of b-FGF levels. In the present study, we demonstrated that the level of cytokines IL1α and TNFα are significantly higher in lesional skin compared with the nonlesional skin in patients with vitiligo. This increase may play an important role in melanocytic cytotoxicity. We believe that analyzing the role of cytokines in the development of vitiligo in large series might lead to a better understanding of the pathological mechanism of this disease. Also, supression of these cytokines with the new biological therapies may be associated with repigmentation of vitiligo.