Psoriasis is an inflammatory immunogenetic skin disease, often accompanied by itch. Opioid receptors are known regulators of itch sensation in the central nervous system. In the brain, μ-opioid receptors may potentiate itch, while activation of κ-opioid receptors may reduce or even alleviate itch; however, the role of opioid receptors in itch perception in the skin is poorly understood. To further elucidate the role of opioid receptors in the neurobiology of psoriatic itch, punch biopsies of non-lesional and lesional skin of patients with psoriasis and healthy controls were studied. Real-time polymerase chain reaction and immunofluorescence microscopy were used to detect opioid receptor genes and protein expression, respectively. The OPRK1/κ-opioid receptor pathway was found to be downregulated in lesional skin of psoriasis, correlating positively with itch sensation. In contrast, the OPRM1/μ-opioid receptor system was uniformly expressed by epidermal keratinocytes in all analysed groups. These findings suggest that imbalance of epidermal opioid receptors may result in disordered neuroepidermal homeostasis in psoriasis, which could potentiate transmission of itch.

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In‑stent restenosis (ISR) is a challenging complication of coronary stent implantation in both stable coronary artery disease (CAD) and acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Recent scientific aproach enables looking closely into its genetic background. This article briefly highlights the already known to increase susceptibility of ISR genetic polymorphisms and summarizes which were not proven to increase the risk of ISR and which may seem protective among CAD patients.

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Background: Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) is the most common liver disorder during gestation. The exact pathogenesis of ICP is multifactorial and still unclear. Therefore, our study aimed to check whether the selected ABCB4and ABCB11nucleotide variants are associated with an increased risk of ICP. Methods:ICP was diagnosed based on clinical symptoms characteristic of this disease and confirmed by increase in serum bile acids and transaminases, spontaneous resolution of clinical symptoms and normalization of laboratory tests after delivery. The total of 86 pregnant women meeting the criteria were included into the study. Healthy pregnant women with uncomplicated pregnancy served as control group (n=310). Sixcommon nucleotide variants in theABCB11and ABCB4genes were genotypedwith the use of high-resolution melting curve analysis. Conclusion:Our study did not show any significant association of analysed ABCB4and ABCB11nucleotide variants with the increased risk of intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy.