Alopecia Universalis Treated With Tofacitinib: The Role of JAK/STAT Inhibitors in Hair Regrowth.

Alopecia universalis is alopecia areata (AA) with total-body involvement of hair loss. The disease progression is due to autoimmune T cells. We present a case of a patient with alopecia universalis who was successfully treated with tofacitinib.

Silica-based microencapsulation used in topical dermatologic applications.

Microencapsulation has received extensive attention because of its various applications. Since its inception in the 1940s, this technology has been used across several areas, including the chemical, food, and pharmaceutical industries. Over-the-counter skin products often contain ingredients that readily and unevenly degrade upon contact with the skin. Enclosing these substances within a silica shell can enhance their stability and better regulate their delivery onto and into the skin. Silica microencapsulation uses silica as the matrix material into which ingredients can be embedded to form microcapsules. The FDA recognizes amorphous silica as a safe inorganic excipient and recently approved two new topical therapies for the treatment of rosacea and acne. The first approved formulation uses a novel silica-based controlled vehicle delivery technology to improve the stability of two active ingredients that are normally not able to be used in the same formulation due to potential instability and drug degradation. The formulation contains 3.0% benzoyl peroxide (BPO) and 0.1% tretinoin topical cream to treat acne vulgaris in adults and pediatric patients. The second formulation contains silica microencapsulated 5.0% BPO topical cream to treat inflammatory rosacea lesions in adults. Both formulations use the same amorphous silica sol-gel microencapsulation technology to improve formulation stability and skin compatibility parameters.

Two cases of systemic mantle cell lymphoma involving the skin.

Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is a form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma that rarely affects skin. Cutaneous involvement is non-specific but usually indicates widespread disease. Herein we present two cases of MCL with secondary skin involvement. One case presented as an acneiform eruption on the face and had aberrant expression of bcl-2 and bcl-6 with weak CD5 expression. The second presented with multiple tumors on the abdomen and thighs. In both cases expression of Cyclin-D1 by the tumor cells was seen. Both patients died shortly after the diagnosis was established.

Mammary Paget disease in Darier disease: beware the wolf in sheep's clothing.

This case describes new onset mammary Paget disease arising in the background of Darier disease. Clinically and histologically, lesions of Darier disease can mask the lesions of mammary Paget disease. A high index of suspicion is necessary to diagnose Paget disease in a patient with Darier disease, for a potentially fatal disease could easily be missed.

Disease relevant HLA class II alleles isolated by genotypic, haplotypic, and sequence analysis in North American Caucasians with pemphigus vulgaris.

Early studies of genetic susceptibility to pemphigus vulgaris (PV) showed associations between human leukocyte antigen (HLA) DR4 and DR6 and disease. The emergence of DNA sequencing techniques has implicated numerous DRB1 and DQB1 loci in various populations, leading to confusion regarding which exact alleles confer susceptibility. The strong linkage disequilibrium among DR and DQ HLA alleles further complicates the investigation of the true susceptibility loci. In this study, we report genotyping data for the largest sampling of North American Caucasian non-Jewish and Ashkenazi Jewish PV patients studied to date and compare our data with other population studies. To pinpoint true susceptibility, alleles among overrepresented sequences, we applied a step-wise reductionist analysis through (1) determination of the degree of linkage disequilibrium (LD) between purportedly associated alleles, (2) haplotype frequencies comparisons, and (3) primary sequence comparisons of disease-associated versus non-disease-associated alleles to identify crucial differences in amino acid residues in putative peptide binding pockets. Collectively, our data provide extended support for the hypothesis that the HLA associations in Caucasian PV patients map to DRB1*0402 and DQB1*0503 alone. Further structure-function studies will be required to define the exact mechanisms of HLA-mediated control of susceptibility and resistance to disease.