Oral Lichen Planus Associated With Lichen Planus Pigmentosus and Lichen Sclerosus in Monozygotic Twins

Oral Chronic Mucositis in a Known Lichen Planus Pigmentosus Patient

Oral manifestations of mucocutaneous inflammatory diseases such as lichenoid dermatoses often affect the patient's quality of life through the symptoms of pain and burning sensation. In this case report, a patient with known lichen planus pigmentosus (LPP), a variant of lichenoid dermatoses that rarely affect oral mucosa, presented with chronic pain in the oral cavity for 2 months. Her intraoral examination revealed multiple pseudomembranous ulcers with erythematous areas and white striae similar to erosive lichen planus. The histological assessment revealed chronic mucositis, while the direct immunofluorescent examination showed negative results, contradicting the diagnosis of both lichen planus and LPP. Thus, the diagnosis was given as chronic mucositis, and the topical steroid was given. After 6 weeks of steroid application, the lesion resolved. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of chronic mucositis in LPP patients. This report could raise the awareness of clinicians to carefully take history as the patient with LPP may suffer from chronic mucositis in the oral cavity as well.

Lichen Planus Pigmentosus with True Melanocytic Nests: A Case Report with a Comprehensive Literature Review

Lichen Planus Pigmentosus (LPP) is an uncommon variant of lichen planus characterized by the development of dark greyish-brown macules and patches primarily affecting sun-exposed areas. Histologically, it presents with lichenoid interface dermatitis with many melanophages. In select cases, the presence of melanocytic nests or pseudomelanocytic nests within LPP lesions has been documented, posing a diagnostic challenge. We present a detailed case report of a 32-year-old Eritrean woman with a longstanding history of hyperpigmented macules, alongside an in-depth review of the existing literature on lichenoid dermatoses featuring melanocytic or pseudomelanocytic nests. This paper delves into the clinical presentation, histopathological features, differential diagnosis, and potential mechanisms underlying this intriguing phenomenon.

Autoimmune Disease Classification Based on PubMed Text Mining

Autoimmune diseases (AIDs) are often co-associated, and about 25% of patients with one AID tend to develop other comorbid AIDs. Here, we employ the power of datamining to predict the comorbidity of AIDs based on their normalized co-citation in PubMed. First, we validate our technique in a test dataset using earlier-reported comorbidities of seven knowns AIDs. Notably, the prediction correlates well with comorbidity (R = 0.91) and validates our methodology. Then, we predict the association of 100 AIDs and classify them using principal component analysis. Our results are helpful in classifying AIDs into one of the following systems: (1) gastrointestinal, (2) neuronal, (3) eye, (4) cutaneous, (5) musculoskeletal, (6) kidneys and lungs, (7) cardiovascular, (8) hematopoietic, (9) endocrine, and (10) multiple. Our classification agrees with experimentally based taxonomy and ranks AID according to affected systems and gender. Some AIDs are unclassified and do not associate well with other AIDs. Interestingly, Alzheimer’s disease correlates well with other AIDs such as multiple sclerosis. Finally, our results generate a network classification of autoimmune diseases based on PubMed text mining and help map this medical universe. Our results are expected to assist healthcare workers in diagnosing comorbidity in patients with an autoimmune disease, and to help researchers in identifying common genetic, environmental, and autoimmune mechanisms.