Clinical and histopathologic characteristics of skin malignancies in Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The present study was undertaken to assess the pattern of skin malignancies in Qassim region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. METHODS: Data of histopathological confirmed cases of skin malignancies were collected from all the referral hospitals of Qassim region during a period from January 2000 to July 2009. RESULTS: Out of 94 cases majority (90.4%) were Saudis, and males (74.5%). The most common malignant skin lesion was BCC (58.5%) followed by SCC (18.1%) and MM (11.7%), respectively. Other malignancies seen were DFSP (4.3%), sebaceous carcinoma (2.1%) and skin secondaries from lung, lymphoma and stomach (4.3%). The most common site was face for BCC, trunk for SCC, and limbs for MM. The DFSP did not show any particular pattern. CONCLUSION: All major types of skin malignancies were seen with patterns similar to those reported from various other regions of Saudi Arabia and other countries except for Kaposi's sarcoma which was not encountered in our study.

Tumor necrosis factor-α -308 G/A and interleukin 10 -1082 A/G gene polymorphisms in patients with acne vulgaris.

BACKGROUND: Cytokines play an important role in the pathogenesis of acne vulgaris together with other genetic and environmental factors. OBJECTIVE: To check for the association of TNF-α and IL-10 gene polymorphisms with the susceptibility and severity of acne in Saudi patients. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Study subjects included 166 Saudi patients (65 males, 101 females) with acne vulgaris. Their mean age±SD was 21.6±5.1 years. These cases were compared to 390 unrelated healthy controls (208 males, 182 females) with a mean age±SD of 20.1±3.3 years. Cases were sub-grouped on the basis of their severity of acne affection into mild, moderate and severe groups. For all participants, genotypic variants of the TNF-α -308 G/A and IL-10 -1082 A/G genes were determined using the real time PCR technique. RESULTS: Frequencies of genotypic variants of the TNF-α -308 polymorphism were significantly different in acne cases compared to controls. Further analysis showed that acne cases had significantly higher frequency of both the GG and AA homozygous forms than controls (73.8% vs. 63.6%, p=0.02, odds ratio=1.6). It was also interestingly noticed that the amount of GG homozygosity was notably higher among female cases than male ones (76.0% vs. 54.7%, p=0.006, odds ratio=2.6) whereas male cases had a higher frequency of AA and GA genotypes than female ones (9.4% and 35.9% vs. 4% and 20% respectively). Differences in the frequencies of IL-10 -1082 genotypic variants were statistically insignificant comparing cases to controls (p=0.3). On the other hand, comparing cases-subgroups in terms of the age of onset of the disease, consanguinity, family history, obesity and acne severity; no statistical significance was observed regarding frequencies of genotypic variants related to the both TNF-α -308 and IL-10 -1082 polymorphisms (>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: TNF-α -308 polymorphic variants might be a predisposing factor for acne susceptibility, with no apparent relation to its severity whereas IL-10 -1082 variants showed no association with both acne susceptibility and severity.

Oral lichen planus and hepatitis C virus: is there real association?

Lichen planus is an inflammatory, mucocutaneous disease that in addition to the skin involves oral mucosa in about 60-70 % of cases. In recent years, several reports have supposed a relationship between oral lichen planus (OLP) and chronic liver disease, especially hepatitis C (HCV). Here we present an extensive review of the literature in English that examines the association between HCV and OLP.