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The article presents a case study of a 29-year old Chinese woman with a history of thymoma type B2 diagnosed with chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU). It notes the association of CD4 lymphocytopenia with CSU, the effect of the thymectomy applied for the treatment thymoma, and impact of using the drug docetaxel.

Facial corticosteroid addictive dermatitis (FCAD) has rapidly emerged as a health problem in China in recent years, because of the uncontrolled use of topical steroids. In total, 312 patients with FCAD from Guiyang, China were entered into a study. In this study, FCAD was classified into five types: dermatitis ( n = 109; 34.9%), acne ( n = 78; 25%), rosacea ( n = 64; 20.5%), angiotelectasia ( n = 30; 9.6%) and dermotrophia/hyperpigmentation ( n = 31; 9.9%). Improper advertisement by manufacturers, availability of steroids without prescription, improper prescribing by doctors, and patient misuse of medication has resulted in the rapid emergence of FCAD in China. Public awareness and physician and patient education of the potential side-effects of topical corticosteroids should be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Behçet's disease (BD) is known to be associated with human leucocyte antigen (HLA)-B*51 in many ethnic groups. However, the association of HLA class II gene with BD has been described to be different according to different countries and regions. Objective This study aims to investigate the association between polymorphism of HLA-DRB1 alleles and BD. Methods Forty patients with BD and 100 healthy controls were typed for HLA-DRB1 alleles by the LABTypeTM SSO method. Results The frequency of HLA-DRB1*14 was significantly higher in BD patients than in controls ( P < 0.05), while the frequency of HLA-DRB1*15 was markedly lower in BD patients ( P < 0.05). Regarding clinical manifestations, the frequency of HLA-DRB1*15 was significantly decreased in BD patients with genital ulcerations compared with controls ( P < 0.05); the frequency of HLA-DRB1*14 was significantly increased in BD patients with erythema nodosum–like lesions and in BD patients with folliculitis-like lesions when compared to controls ( P < 0.05, respectively). Moreover, the frequency of HLA-DRB1*14 was significantly increased in BD patients under 20 years of age at the onset of disease ( P < 0.01), while the frequency of HLA-DRB1*15 was significantly decreased in them ( P < 0.05), compared with controls. Conclusion The results suggested that HLA-DRB1 alleles might play an important role in the onset and clinical manifestations of BD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a 62-year-old Chinese woman with a 2-year history of lichen planus presenting with extensive violaceous maculopapules and plaques 1 week after taking an oral preparation of Chinese herbs. The patient developed vesiculobullous skin lesions 7 weeks later. Histopathological examination showed subepidermal blisters and adjacent bandlike lymphocytic infiltration. Direct immunofluorescence revealed linear deposits of IgG and C3 along the basement membrane zone. Indirect immunofluorescence showed IgG antibody deposition along the epidermal side of salt-split human skin. Circulating anti-bullous pemphigoid 180 antibodies were detected by ELISA. Lichen planus pemphigoides (LPP) was diagnosed. To our knowledge, this is the first report of LPP associated with oral Chinese herbs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]