A 23-year-old girl affected by Papillon-Lefèvre syndrome developed, during Etretinate therapy (1 mg/kg/day), two liver abscesses caused by pyogenic bacteria and a subphrenic abscess. The immunological effects of retinoids may precipitate severe infections in patients with Papillon-Lefèvre syndrome, who probably have a basic, even though not always evident, defect of PMN chemotaxis.
Since alopecia areata might be due to an aberrant T-cell-mediated immunity, the purpose of our study was to compare the results obtained with Thymopentin to those of topical sensitizing therapies, such as squaric acid dibutylester or diphencyprone. Statistical analysis showed no differences between the results obtained with these two therapies. Therefore, Thymopentin can be considered to be a new therapeutic agent which, like the classic topical drugs squaric acid dibutylester or diphencyprone, has immunoreactive properties and might provide some hope to patients with severe alopecia areata.
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