Genetic polymorphisms in HLA-A, -B, -C and -DR antigens in Japanese patients with palmoplantar pustulosis

A Case Report of Improved Palmoplantar Pustulosis following Periodontal Treatment and Possible Association with Diminished Systemic Subclinical Inflammation

Palmoplantar pustulosis (PPP) is a recurrent pustular dermatosis located on the palms and soles. Focal infection may exacerbate the symptoms of PPP, but the etiology is not fully clear. A 56-year-old woman with PPP was diagnosed with severe chronic periodontitis. Initial treatment for periodontitis combined with topical application of antibiotics and surgical treatment was performed. In this case, attention was paid to the relevance of systemic inflammation caused by periodontitis with the clinical symptoms of PPP. With periodontal treatment, the symptoms of PPP and periodontitis, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) level, and periodontal inflamed surface area (PISA) improved. This case highlights the importance of comprehensive dental examinations, including those for oral infections, such as periodontitis and other unrecognized sources of infection, and dental treatment in the overall management of PPP.

Dermatoses neutrofílicas: parte II

Neste artigo são abordadas as dermatoses neutrofílicas, complementando o artigo anterior (parte I). São apresentadas e comentadas as seguintes dermatoses: pustulose subcórnea de Sneddon-Wilkinson, dermatite crural pustulosa e atrófica, pustulose exantemática generalizada aguda, acroder matite contínua de Hallopeau, pustulose palmoplantar, acropustulose infantil, bacteride pustular de Andrews e foliculite pustulosa eosinofílica. Uma breve revisão das dermatoses neutrofílicas em pacientes pediátricos também é realizada.

Genome-wide association scan yields new insights into the immunopathogenesis of psoriasis

Psoriasis is a common, immunologically mediated, inflammatory and hyperproliferative disease of the skin and joints, with a multifactorial genetic basis. We earlier mapped PSORS1, the major psoriasis susceptibility gene in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), to within or very near HLA-Cw6. In an effort to identify non-MHC psoriasis genes, we carried out a collaborative genome-wide association study. After the initial follow-up genotyping of 21 single nucleotide polymorphisms from 18 loci, showing strong evidence of association in the initial scan, we confirmed evidence of association at seven loci. Three of these loci confirm earlier reports of association (HLA-C, IL12B, IL23R) and four identify novel signals located near plausible candidate genes (IL23A, IL4/IL13, TNFAIP3 and TNIP1). In other work, we have also shown that interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) treatment induces interleukin (IL)-23 mRNA and protein in antigen-presenting cells (APC), leading to the proliferation of CD4+ and CD8+ memory T cells expressing IL-17. Although functional variants remain to be identified, we speculate that genetic variants at the IL4/IL13 locus contribute to the Th1 bias that is characteristic of psoriasis, that Th1-derived IFN-gamma supports expansion of IL-17+ T cells through APC-derived IL-23 and that negative regulation of inflammatory signaling through the NF-kappaB axis is impaired because of genetic variants of TNFAIP3 and TNIP1.

A clinical feature associated with polymorphisms of the TNF region in Japanese patients with palmoplantar pustulosis

We investigated the association of polymorphisms in the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) microsatellite as well as the promoter region of the TNFA gene and the TNFB gene with palmoplantar pustulosis (PPP). In order to clarify the heterogeneity of this disease, we performed a tonsillar provocation test on 78 patients and divided them into two groups according to the results; provocation positive (PP; n = 38) and provocation negative (PN; n = 40). We found that the phenotype frequency of the TNFB2 allele of the TNFB gene in the PN group was significantly higher than in controls (p = 0.0022, corrected p = 0.0044). There was also a significant increase in the frequency of allele B of the TNFA gene (TNFApB) in the PN group when compared with controls (p = 0.0049, corrected p = 0.025). Although there are no significant differences in the frequency of TNFa microsatellites, the frequency of the TNFd7 allele increased and that of the TNFd4 allele decreased in the PN group. An extended haplotype analysis revealed that the TNFd7-TNFApA-TNFB2 haplotype was more frequent in the PN group, implying that the PN group is associated with a low level of TNF-alpha production. These results indicate that detection of polymorphisms at the TNF locus may be a marker for determination of the heterogeneity of the disease, and that the allelic variation may influence the susceptibility.

Genetic analysis of PSORS1 distinguishes guttate psoriasis and palmoplantar pustulosis

The PSORS1 locus in the major histocompatibility complex region is the major genetic determinant for psoriasis vulgaris. Within the PSORS1 region reside at least three potential candidate genes for psoriasis susceptibility. Specific allelic variants of the genes HLA-Cw*6, HCR*WWCC, and CDSN*5 are strongly associated with psoriasis vulgaris and are in strong linkage disequilibrium with each other. We have genotyped the three psoriasis vulgaris susceptibility alleles of the PSORS1 locus in two clinical variants of psoriasis (guttate psoriasis and palmoplantar pustulosis) to study whether PSORS1 is also involved in the pathogenesis of these variants. We also asked whether these two clinical subgroups could help us to distinguish the causative gene within the high-risk PSORS1 haplotype. The association of guttate psoriasis with the three PSORS1 susceptibility alleles was similar and even stronger than seen with psoriasis vulgaris. Palmoplantar pustulosis, however, did not show association with any of the three candidate genes at this locus. Finally, no correlation with the age of onset for disease was observed. Our results show conclusively that psoriasis vulgaris and guttate psoriasis have a similar genetic basis for their association to PSORS1, whereas palmoplantar pustulosis appears to be a distinct disorder.

Immunogenetic background of patients with autoimmune fatigue syndrome

We have previously reported that approximately 50% of children with chronic nonspecific complaints were positive for antinuclear antibodies (ANA), and that a novel autoantibody to a 62 kD protein (anti-Sa) was found in 40% of these ANA-positive patients. Therefore, we proposed a distinct disease entity termed autoimmune fatigue syndrome (AIFS). We hypothesized that if autoimmune mechanisms did play an important role in the pathogenesis of AIFS, it is possible that it is immunogenetically regulated as observed in other autoimmune disorders. In order to examine the immunogenetic background of AIFS patients, HLA-A, -B, -C, and -DR loci were analyzed serologically in 61 AIFS patients. AIFS was found to be positively associated with the class I antigen HLA-B61 and with the class II antigen HLA-DR9, with odds ratios of 2.77 (p = 0.015, Pcorr = 0.48) and 2.60 (p= 0.012, Pcorr = 0.17), respectively. A negative association was also found between AIFS and HLA-DR2 with odds ratio of 0.25 (p = 0.029, Pcorr = 0.041). When comparing anti-Sa positive AIFS patients with healthy controls, the odds ratios associated with HLA-B61, DR9, and DR2 were 3.42 (p = 0.021, Pcorr = 0.22), 3.96 (p = 0.0011, Pcorr = 0.015), and 0.16 (p = 0.0022, Porr = 0.031), respectively. Thus, the HLA associations observed in this study suggested that immunogenetic background might play a role in AIFS.

Polymorphism in the tumor necrosis factor B gene is associated with Palmoplantar pustulosis

We investigated the allele and genotype distribution of a polymorphism of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) B gene and the frequency of HLA-DR9 in 49 patients with Palmoplantar pustulosis (PPP) and 51 healthy controls. We found that the frequency of TNFB2 in the PPP patients was significantly higher than that in the controls. Furthermore, the DR9-TNFB2 haplotype was significantly more frequent in the PPP patients (P=0.0045). These results suggest that TNFB2 may confer susceptibility to PPP.

SKALP/elafin gene polymorphisms are not associated with pustular forms of psoriasis

Psoriasis is a multifactorial skin disease characterised by epidermal abnormalities and infiltration by lymphocytes and polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN). Skin-derived antileukoproteinase (SKALP), also known as elafin, is a potent inhibitor of human leukocyte elastase and proteinase 3, two PMN-derived proteinases implicated in tissue destruction and leukocyte migration. We have shown that, at least at the protein level, SKALP is significantly decreased in lesional skin of patients with pustular psoriasis compared with plaque-type psoriasis. This finding raised the possibility that SKALP could be one of the candidate genes for pustular forms of psoriasis. We therefore performed single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis on the SKALP gene to screen for mutations/polymorphisms in the exons of 30 patients with plaque-type psoriasis, 15 patients with pustular psoriasis and 48 healthy controls. In exon 1 a polymorphism was detected at position +43 relative to the translation start site, resulting in a substitution of threonine for alanine in the signal peptide. In the promoter region a dinucleotide repeat polymorphism was identified. Both polymorphisms were not associated with pustular psoriasis, or psoriasis in general. Our data indicate that the decrease in SKALP activity in pustular psoriasis is not caused by mutations in the coding region of the gene, and that there is no allelic association between pustular psoriasis and SKALP gene polymorphisms.