No abstract

Itch is the most common chief complaint in patients visiting dermatology clinics and is analogous to cough and also sneeze of the lower and upper respiratory tract, all three of which are host actions trying to clear noxious stimuli. The pathomechanisms of these symptoms are not completely determined. The itch can originate from a variety of etiologies. Itch originates following the activation of peripheral sensory nerve endings following damage or exposure to inflammatory mediators. More than one sensory nerve subtype is thought to subserve pruriceptive itch which includes both unmyelinated C-fibers and thinly myelinated Aδ nerve fibers. There are a lot of mediators capable of stimulating these afferent nerves leading to itch. Cough and itch pathways are mediated by small-diameter sensory fibers. These cough and itch sensory fibers release neuropeptides upon activation, which leads to inflammation of the nerves. The inflammation is involved in the development of chronic conditions of itch and cough. The aim of this review is to point out the role of sensory nerves in the pathogenesis of cough and itching. The common aspects of itch and cough could lead to new thoughts and perspectives in both fields.

Malignant melanoma is an oncological disease characterized by etiologic heterogeneity and it has increasing incidence and mortality in the Slovak Republic. While it is treated surgically in combination with chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy, malignant melanomas can ulcerate and are susceptible to infections. These are highly aggressive cancers with metastasis, and recent studies have shown the presence of mutations in RAC1, PPP6C and STK19 genes in melanoma patients. Mutations in these genes are driver mutations; important in oncogenesis and providing selective advantage to tumor cells. The aim of our study is to establish a method to detect driver mutations in formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue DNA. We applied Sanger sequencing to detect driver somatic mutations in RAC1, PPP6C, STK19 and BRAF genes in patients with malignant melanoma. Confirmation of BRAF V600E mutation was obtained by allele-specific PCR. The BRAF V600E mutation was present in 15 of 113 patients (13.2%) and the driver mutation in 7 of 113 patients (6.2 %). Our results demonstrate that Sanger sequencing analysis detects mutations in FFPE clinical samples. The identification of these somatic driver mutations in samples with verified malignant melanomas enabled development of a molecular classification of melanomas, and our study provides evidence of diversity of novel driver mutations implicated in malignant melanoma pathogenesis. These findings could have very important implications for targeted therapy.

Global prevalence of psoriasis is ranging from 0.91 % to 8.5 % [1]. Exact numbers are missing for Slovakia. 1-5% range is the most probable while 2 % is also mentioned as an average prevalence for the European population. There is approximately 110 thousand patients suffering from psoriasis when extrapolating from total population of 5.5 million [2]. Extracutaneous manifestation is observed in 11–30 % of patients after years of solely skin symptoms presentation [3, 4, 5, 6].Objective: To estimate prevalence of psoriatic arthritis among psoriatic patients population visiting dermatology out-patient irrelevant of the disease duration and the treatment regimen. To compare the sensitivity of both tests (ToPAS and PASE) used, evaluate possible PsA risk factors.Methods: This was a prospective, non-interventional, epidemiological, observational study conducted using a survey administered to psoriatic patients by their dermatologists. 10–20 consequent outpatients with psoriasis in each center in 43 regional dermatology officies were screened for the presence of extra-cutaneous symptoms (i.e. joint pain, enthesitis, dactylitis, nail involvement) using questionnaire, developed specificaly for this study, and by the PASE and ToPAS questionnaires. Patients without personal history of PsA and „positivity“ of PASE and/or ToPAS were sent to the center for confirmation / exclusion of the diagnosis by applying CASPAR criteria. Outcomes were statistically processed.Results: 177 (21.8 %) of total of 831 psoriatic patients had PsA. 9 of 177 (5.35 %) has been newly diagnosed. There was almost equal number of men (50.5 %) and women (49.5 %).Plaque psoriasis has been most frequent type – 76.9 %. 43.2 % of PsA patients reported the onset of the disease after 40 years of life. Time interval between onset of psoriasis and PsA has been less than 10 years in 20.2 %, 10–20 years in 20.8 % and more than 20 years in 16.1 %. Most frequent co-morbidity in the study population was hypertension 23.2 %, asthma 3 % and diabetes 2.4 %. Average value of BSA and PASI was higher in PsA vs. non-PsA group: 24 vs. 20 and 10 vs 9, respectively. The sensitivity (72.6 % vs 58.9 %, P=0.01) and specificity (81.3 % vs 80.5 %) of ToPAS was higher compared to PASE.Conclusion: 21.8 % PsA prevalence in psoriatic population in Slovakia is within the range observed in other studies. ToPAS test showed comparable results in terms of specificity, but significantly better results in terms of sensitivity and its early application should be of major importance because of the diagnostic process acceleration. The effect of an early diagnosis on the total patient outcome should be an objective of further research. This project was supported from educational grant of Pfizer Inc.

Introduction: Biology therapies in a various medical specializations and for a broad spectrum of indications were launched during last two decades. As a new in class the therapies were obliged to provide additional data re gar ding efficacy and safety after their real medical practice integration. Patient registries, databases collecting various patient data, were introduced to grant data on the treatment effectiveness, safety, and long-term on treatment survival. Satisfactory treatment effect and acceptable safety profile were confirmed after couple of years of careful observation. However, the benefits were usually offered at much higher treatment costs compared to the standard therapies. Biologically similar drugs, so-called biosimilars (B.S), are being launched after original molecule patent protection expiry during recent years. They were expected as an ideal solution to avoid distinct impact on the medical budget: comparable effect for less money. The unsubstantiated doubts about biosimilar efficacy and safety were the reason of the late launch in many markets. Since biosimilars are considered as new therapy entities, the cautiousness to certain extent should be required. Information gained from post-marketing observations and patient registries over several years, confirmed the biosimilar product comparable quality. Healthcare budget savings could secure easier therapy access for more new patients.