No abstract available.

No abstract available.

BACKGROUND: Behcet's disease (BD), first described in 1937 as a triadic complex of symptoms (oral aphthae, genital ulcers, and hypopyon uveitis), is a chronic, relapsing, multisystemic idiopathic inflammatory disease. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate the usability of messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of cytokine genes for following up patients with BD and also assess polymorphisms in these genes as to how they influence mRNA expression. METHODS: This study investigated the role of the IL1A -889(C/T), IL1B -511(C/T), and IL2 -330(T/G) polymorphisms by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-restriction fragment length polymorphisms and the expression levels of the genes by real-time PCR in BD. RESULTS: The frequency of the IL2 -330 G allele was found to be significantly higher in patients with BD. A decreased level of IL1A gene expression was found in the patient group with clinically active BD compared to controls. Increased IL1B gene expression levels werefound in patient groups with active, inactive, or ocular BD (p<0.001). IL2 gene expression level manifested no significant change compared to controls in the patient group with clinically active BD; it increased in the groups with clinically inactive BD or ocular involvement. CONCLUSION: IL1A, IL1B, and IL2 gene expression, and IL2 promoter polymorphisms, may be valuable markers for predicting risk in the development of BD. We believe that the results reveal the importance of achieving a better understanding of BD and the prospects of developing future therapeutic strategies.
Alleles ; Gene Expression ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Interleukin-2 ; Interleukins* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; RNA, Messenger* ; Stomatitis, Aphthous ; Ulcer

Background: Internalized stigma, adoption of negative attitudes and stereotypes of the society regarding persons’ illness, has not been studied previously in pediatric psoriasis patients. Objective: We aimed to investigate the internalized stigma in pediatric psoriasis patients and to determine differences according to factors affecting internalized stigma compared to adult psoriasis patients. Methods: This multicenter,cross-sectional, comparative study included 125 pediatric (55 female, 70 male; mean age±standard deviation [SD], 14.59±2.87 years) and 1,235 adult psoriasis patients (577 female, 658 male; mean age±SD, 43.3±13.7 years). Psoriasis Internalized Stigma Scale (PISS), Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), Perceived Health Status (PHS), and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ)-12 were the scales used in the study. Results: The mean PISS was 58.48±14.9 in pediatric group. When PISS subscales of groups were compared, the pediatric group had significantly higher stigma resistance (p=0.01) whereas adult group had higher scores of alienation (p=0.01) and stereotype endorsement (p=0.04). There was a strong correlation between mean values of PISS and DLQI (r=0.423, p=0.001). High internalized stigma scores had no relation to either the severity or localization of disease in pediatric group. However, poor PHS (p=0.007) and low-income levels (p=0.03) in both groups, and body mass index (r=0.181, p=0.04) in the pediatric group were related to high PISS scores. Conclusion Internalized stigma in pediatric patients is as high as adults and is related to poor quality of life, general health, and psychological illnesses. Unlike adults, internalized stigma was mainly determined by psoriasis per se, rather than disease severity or involvement of visible body parts, genitalia or folds.