Immunology

In 2003, several studies were conducted on various skin conditions and their treatments. A retrospective review of 120 patients found that antihypertensive agents were most commonly implicated in drug-induced cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE), with most patients seeing improvement within 8 weeks of discontinuing the drug. Other studies highlighted the importance of early antiviral therapy in neonatal herpes simplex virus infection, aggressive treatment of diabetic foot ulcers, and the need for controlled clinical trials for localized scleroderma in children. Vaccine studies found a glycoprotein D-adjuvant vaccine effective against genital herpes simplex virus in women who were seronegative for both HSV-1 and HSV-2, and a vaccine against human papillomavirus type 16 reduced the incidence of HPV-16 infection and related cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. A study of 113 psoriasis patients found that thrice-weekly NB-UVB phototherapy was more effective than twice-weekly treatment. Another study of 789 psoriasis patients found a strong association between smoking and/or drinking and psoriasis in men, and between drinking and psoriasis in women. Two studies on primary nodular basal cell carcinoma found that daily dosing of 5% imiquimod cream resulted in high clearance rates. A study of 194 females found no direct relationship between low serum ferritin and chronic diffuse telogen hair loss.