The role of focal infections in the pathogenesis of psoriasis and chronic urticaria

Oral changes in patients with psoriasis

Psoriasis is one of the most frequent skin diseases. The cause of psoriasis is not fully expained as there are many factors (infectious, traumatic, hormonal, and chemical) that may play a role in the manifestation of its symptoms. One of the factors that may contribute to the appearance of psoriatic lesions may be the lesions in the oral cavity. The occurrence of lesions in the oral cavity is defined as rare, what can be explained by their nonspecific clinical image, and also by the possibility of being overlooked. Most characteristic symptoms of psoriasis occurring in the oral cavity are the geographic tongue and fissured tongue. It is also believed that there is a correlation between psoriasis and oral health- the periodontal and teeth condition as well as changes in saliva secretion. The psoriasis arthritis changes can also affect temporomandibular joint and impair the function of stomatognathic system. Because of these reports, cooperation of dermatologists and dentists in psoriasis care seems to be necessary.

Influence of focal infection on the immune status of psoriasis patients

Objective:to study the influence of focal infection on the immune status of patients with psoriasis.

Materials and methods.30 patients with psoriasis aged 19 to 61 years (21 people — plaque psoriasis, 9 people — psoriasis guttata) were examined, which were divided into 2 groups. The first group — with the diagnosed of focal infection (18 people), the second group — without the presence of focal infection (12 people). The control group consisted of 15 healthy individuals admitted to the clinic for the removal of benign skin tumors. All patients underwent a comprehensive clinical, instrumental and laboratory examination, as well as an immunogram. Determination of lymphocyte subpopulations was carried out on a flow cytometer “Cytom - ics FC500” by Beckman Coulter using various combinations of direct monoclonal antibodies and isotopic controls. The groups were compared using nonparametric Mann — Whitney test, the differences were considered significant at p < 0.05.

Results.The absence of significant quantitative changes in the main and small subpopulations of T- and В-lymphocytes in both groups of patients with psoriasis was shown. At the same time, the group of patients with psoriasis and focal infection, was characterized by an increase in the relative number of T-lymphocytes (p = 0.034) and T-helpers (p = 0.012), the relative and absolute number of activated CD3+HLA-DR+cells (p = 0.028 and 0.036, respectively), as well as a decrease in regulatory T-helper (p = 0.031). Subpopulation of CLA+CD3+-lymphocytes tropic to the skin in comparison with control was increased both in the first (p = 0.016) and second (p = 0.044) groups. Also, patients with psoriasis differed from healthy individuals by increasing the number of memory T-cells (p = 0.049 for group 1, p = 0.003 for group 2).

Conclusion.Existing focal infection in psoriasis patients lead to an imbalance in the content of individual lymphocyte subpopulations: an increase in the relative number of CD3+CD4+ and CD3+HLA-DR+ cells, as well as a decrease in regulatory T-helper. These changes can lead to a long course of the disease and a reduction in remission periods.

Case Report: Resolution of chronic urticaria following treatment of odontogenic infection

Background: Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is a condition characterised by the presence of hives with/without angioedema, that affects individuals on more days than not for 6 weeks or more. The role of infection as a potential trigger for CSU is well described, but the current clinical guidelines do not recommend routine screening for underlying infections.

Main observations: We report a case of severe prolonged chronic spontaneous urticaria in a 19-year-old, that went into rapid remission following the treatment of dental infection.

Conclusions: Clinicians should recognise the potential role that infection can have in causing chronic urticaria. There should be a low threshold to treat infection in such circumstances.

Infections and the risk of psoriatic arthritis among psoriasis patients: a systematic review

Psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) are related inflammatory diseases with some shared genetic and environmental risk factors. It has been suggested that environmental factors, including infections, can trigger the development of PsA among psoriasis patients. The aim of this review was to systematically examine available data evaluating the effect of infections on the risk of developing PsA. A systematic search of the Cochrane Library, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science was conducted on March 16 2017, in accordance with the PRISMA statement. The following search terms were used along with "psoriatic arthritis": "infections", "risk", "bacteria", and "virus". Abstracts were reviewed and publications meeting the following criteria included: (1) Observational studies on psoriasis and PsA patients, including case-control, cohort, or ecologic studies and (2) presenting original data on the association between infections and PsA. The protocol for this systematic review was registered on PROSPERO (ID: 79432). Twenty-seven original studies presenting data on infections among PsA patients were included. Eight studies showed a statistically significant association between infections and PsA. In addition, seven studies reported mixed result with some statistically significant associations and five studies did not find statistically significant associations. This included studies of bacterial as well as viral pathogens and those of infections in general. The remaining seven studies lacked data to determine statistical significance. Out of all included studies, the total number of included patients was 933 PsA patients and 1611 controls. While the studies summarized did not all provide evidence supporting an association between infections and PsA certain trends emerged. The available data are inconsistent and further studies are needed to verify or refute this purported association. In particular, laryngeal infections and infections involving streptococci should be studied more carefully.

MicroRNA-181b negatively regulates the proliferation of human epidermal keratinocytes in psoriasis through targeting TLR4

Our study aims to explore the role of microRNA‐181b (miR‐181b) and TLR in the regulation of cell proliferation of human epidermal keratinocytes (HEKs) in psoriasis. Twenty‐eight patients diagnosed with psoriasis vulgaris were selected as a case group with their lesional and non‐lesional skin tissues collected. A control group consisted of 20 patients who underwent plastic surgery with their healthy skin tissues collected. Real‐time quantitative fluorescence polymerase chain reaction (RT‐qPCR), in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry were used to detect the expressions of miR‐181b and TLR4 in HEKs of healthy skin, psoriatic lesional skin and non‐lesional skin respectively. The 3′ untranslated region (3′UTR) of TLR4 combined with miR‐181b was verified by a dual‐luciferase reporter assay. Western blotting and bromodeoxyuridine were applied for corresponding detection of TLR4 expression and cell mitosis. The expression of miR‐181b in HEKs of psoriatic lesional skin was less than healthy skin and psoriatic non‐lesional skin. In psoriatic lesional and non‐lesional skin, TLR4‐positive cell rates and the number of positive cells per square millimetre were higher than healthy skin. The dual‐luciferase reporter assay verified that miR‐181b targets TLR4. HEKs transfected with miR‐181b mimics had decreased expression of TLR4, along with the decrease of mitotic indexes and Brdu labelling indexes. However, HEKs transfected with miR‐181b inhibitors showed increased TLR4 expression, mitotic indexes and Brdu labelling indexes. HEKs transfected with both miR‐181b inhibitors and siTLR4 had decreased mitotic indexes and Brdu labelling indexes. These results indicate that miR‐181b can negatively regulate the proliferation of HEKs in psoriasis by targeting TLR4.

Refractory chronic spontaneous urticaria and permanent atrial fibrillation associated with dental infection: Mere coincidence or something more to it?

Controversy surrounds the role of dental infection/inflammation in the oral cavity in chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) and atrial fibrillation (AF), which is mainly due to scarce literature in this area. Therefore, this case report and review of literature illustrate a possible association between the acute-phase response (APR) and clinical conditions, such as CSU and dental infection/inflammation of oral cavity and AF.We describe a 36-year-old man with an 8-year history of difficult-to-treat, uncontrolled CSU, co-existent with dental infection/inflammatory processes of oral cavity and permanent atrial fibrillation (AF). In the presented case, the most likely triggering or aggravating/maintaining factor of the symptoms was the inflammation/dental infection of the oral cavity because of rapid reduction of the urticarial symptoms, drug doses, and serum CRP levels after the dental therapy. Dental treatment may have a beneficial effect on the systemic inflammatory response, reducing/normalizing the circulating levels of APR markers. APR activation appears to worsen CSU course, early identification and treatment of infectious/inflammatory foci in the oral cavity would form the mainstay of supportive therapy for CU probably through reduction of the systemic inflammatory burden. APR associated with infectious/inflammatory foci in the oral cavity could be taken into account as a predisposing agents to AF.

Role of nidi of infection in various skin diseases

Reviewed scientific publications that define the location of foci of chronic infections in dermatology. Indicated by the currently existing problematic issues and their solutions.

Temperament and character profiles of patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria

Introduction

Psychosocial factors have been implicated as being important in the onset and/or exacerbation of urticaria.

Aim

To examine both personality factors of patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU) and the correlations between illness duration, severity of itching, urticaria activity score (UAS) and temperament-character dimensions.

Material and methods

A total number of 70 CIU patients and 60 healthy individuals were included in the study. The Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) was administered individually. The relationship between UAS, illness duration and severity of pruritus and TCI subscales were evaluated.

Results

The CIU group had significantly higher scores of novelty seeking and lower scores of cooperativeness, reward dependence and self-directedness than the control group.

Conclusions

The current study shows that CIU patients have distinctive temperament and character dimensions when compared with the control group. We suggest that evaluation and treatment of CIU should also include psychosomatic approaches in clinical practice.

IgA nephropathy and psoriatic arthritis that improved with steroid pulse therapy and mizoribine in combination with treatment for chronic tonsillitis and epipharyngitis

A 65-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with edema and renal dysfunction. He had received a diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis at 50 years of age. As a renal biopsy showed IgA nephropathy (IgAN), bilateral tonsillectomy was performed, and one course of steroid pulse therapy with an oral steroid and mizoribine were subsequently administered. The patient's proteinuria gradually reduced in association with an improvement in the renal function. In addition, the rash and arthralgia were ameliorated. In this case, adding treatment for chronic epipharyngitis accelerated the curative effects, and focal infection therapy consisting of immunosuppressive drugs was effective for both IgAN and psoriatic arthritis.

Effectiveness of omalizumab in a patient with a life-threatening episode of bronchospasm and larynx angioedema after exposure to house dust

Omalizumab is a monoclonal antibody against IgE, nowadays approved for the treatment of persistent severe (EU) or moderate-to severe (USA) IgE-mediated asthma but there is also some evidence (case reports and four published clinical trials) on the effectiveness of this medication in urticaria and angioedema. The case of a 42-year-old woman suffering from severe allergic asthma and severe chronic urticaria with concomitant angioedema is presented in the article. She had a life-threatening episode of bronchospasm and larynx edema after exposure to house dust recorded in her medical history. The patient did not respond to standard therapy. The improvement in asthma control and remission of chronic urticaria and angioedema was achieved after introducing the therapy with omalizumab.