SAMIR, N. E. S. R. I. N., L. G. Alieldin, Z. A. Nour, and A. M. AlOrbani, "Interleukin-29 level in psoriasis before and after narrow-band ultraviolet B and its relationship with metabolic syndrome.", Archives of dermatological research, vol. 316, issue 2, pp. 63, 2023.
Fawzy, M. M., Z. M. El Maadawi, R. A. HEGAZY, and N. A. S. El Fatah, "Vitiligo - The story from within: A transmission electron microscopic study before and after narrow-band ultraviolet B.", Ultrastructural pathology, vol. 40, issue 5, pp. 265-75, 2016. Abstract

Melanocyte loss is the main feature of vitiligo, but evidence refers to pathological multiplayers. Transmission electron microscopy was utilized to further explore vitiligo before and after narrow-band ultraviolet B (NB-UVB) therapy. Skin biopsies were retrieved from lesional and perilesional skin and compared to normal control skin. Sections were examined for melanocytes and keratinocytes and the number of melanosomes and thickness of basal lamina were measured. In lesional skin, keratinocytes revealed two types of degeneration with a significant increase in the mean thickness of basal lamina and decrease in the number of melanosomes. After treatment, lesional and perilesional skin showed variable ultrastructural features.

Youssef, R. M., D. Mahgoub, H. M. Mashaly, E. El-Nabarawy, N. Samir, and M. El-Mofty, "Different narrowband UVB dosage regimens in dark skinned psoriatics: a preliminary study.", Photodermatology, photoimmunology & photomedicine, vol. 24, issue 5, pp. 256-9, 2008. Abstract

BACKGROUND: Psoriasis is a common and relapsing disease, which is both physically and psychologically disabling. Narrowband UVB (NB-UVB) is used in fair-skinned population in suberythemogenic doses with good results; however, in the darker skin population (skin types III, IV, V) erythemogenic doses have not been thoroughly investigated.

AIM: A left-right bilateral comparative trial was carried out to compare the suberythemogenic dose of NB-UVB vs. erythemogenic dose in the treatment of dark-skinned psoriatic patients.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study was conducted on 20 patients with chronic plaque psoriasis. The left side was treated with the dose causing minimal erythema [100% of minimal erythema dose (MED)] while the right side received 70% of this MED (suberythemogenic side).

RESULTS: Our results revealed no statistically significant difference in PASI final and in the percentage of reduction of PASI score between both sides as well as the total number of sessions (P-value>0.05), while the total cumulative UVB dose on the suberythemogenic side was significantly lower (P-value<0.001).

CONCLUSION: Our study recommends reducing the dose regimen of NB-UVB and consequently the cumulative UVB dose by using the suberythemogenic dosing schedule even in dark skin population.

El-Hadidi, H., N. Samir, O. G. Shaker, and S. Otb, "Estimation of tissue and serum lipocalin-2 in psoriasis vulgaris and its relation to metabolic syndrome.", Archives of dermatological research, vol. 306, issue 3, pp. 239-45, 2014. Abstract

Adipose tissue is now considered an endocrine organ secreting different cytokines known as adipocytokines. Lipocalin-2 has been recently identified as an adipokine present in the circulation, it is related to insulin resistance, obesity, atherosclerotic diseases and type 2 diabetes. Lipocalin-2 and psoriasis are assumed to be closely associated with the metabolic syndrome. The aim of the present study is to estimate the level of lipocalin-2 in the serum and tissue of psoriatic patients and to correlate these levels with markers of metabolic syndrome, CRP and disease severity. This study was done on 30 patients of psoriasis and 30 healthy controls. All patients and controls were subjected to clinical examination. Serum, tissue levels of lipocalin-2 and C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay technique. Metabolic syndrome parameters including anthropometric measures, lipid profiles, blood sugar and blood pressure were studied. Patients with psoriasis showed significant association with metabolic syndrome parameters than controls. Tissue lipocalin-2 was significantly higher than serum levels in psoriasis patients. A significant difference was detected in tissue levels of lipocalin-2 and not in the serum between patients and controls. Both tissue and serum lipocalin-2 correlated with CRP. Although there was a correlation between tissue and serum levels of lipocalin-2 in patients, there was no correlation between both of them with metabolic syndrome and related disorders. Our results revealed that patients with psoriasis are at increased risk of metabolic and cardiovascular complications, tissue lipocalin-2 is more specific to psoriasis than serum lipocalin-2. Lipocalin-2 has no role in determining severity of the disease. Neither tissue nor serum lipocalin-2 conveys cardiovascular risk in psoriasis patients.

Haase, O., H. Mosaad, M. A. El Darouti, A. Z. El Ramly, N. Samir, M. M. Abd Elhady, M. Samir, I. El-Gharib, S. Salah, F. A. El-Shennawy, et al., "TNFAIP3 and IL12B gene polymorphisms associated with psoriasis vulgaris in an Egyptian cohort.", Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology : JEADV, vol. 29, issue 7, pp. 1297-301, 2015. Abstract

BACKGROUND: Psoriasis vulgaris is a common chronic inflammatory skin disease. Development of early onset psoriasis is, to some extent, genetically determined and a strong association with the major histocompatibility complex HLA-Cw6 has been demonstrated. The use of genome-wide association studies has highlighted novel genes associated with the development of psoriasis as IL12B, IL23R, TNFAIP3 and IL13 for instance. The majority of these studies were performed on cohorts of European descent.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether inter-ethnic differences exist in the genetic susceptibility to psoriasis, we genotyped single-nucleotide polymorphism variations in the vicinity of candidate genes in 132 Egyptian patients and 175 healthy controls.

METHODS: Blood samples of patients and controls were screened for nucleotide polymorphisms in four candidate genes by TaqMan single-nucleotide polymorphisms Genotyping Assays.

RESULTS: We found a significant association between psoriasis and the single-nucleotide polymorphism rs610604, within the TNFAIP3 gene. The TNFAIP3 gene is involved in the TNF-α signalling cascade (P-value: 0.004952), a key step in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. Although there was no significant association found between rs610604 (IL12B) and rs11209026 (IL23R) in this population, the interaction of these two genes showed a significant association with psoriasis (P-value: 0.025). Moreover, when selecting the patients with early disease onset (less than 30 years), we also found that the association of IL12B and psoriasis was highly significant (P-value 1.14 × 10(-12)). No association between rs20541 (IL13) and psoriasis was observed in our Egyptian cohort.

CONCLUSION: Replicating the association of single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the TNFAIP3, IL12B and IL23R genes with psoriasis vulgaris, in subjects from different ethnic backgrounds, underlines their importance in the pathogenesis of the disease. In contrast, the lack of any association between rs20541 (IL13) and psoriasis in our Egyptian cohort suggests the existence of important inter-ethnic genetic differences in psoriasis susceptibility.

El-Komy, M. H. M., and N. Samir, "1064 Nd:YAG laser for the treatment of chronic paronychia: a pilot study.", Lasers in medical science, vol. 30, issue 5, pp. 1623-6, 2015. Abstract

Paronychia, which can be acute or chronic, is characterized by erythema, edema, and tenderness at the proximal and occasionally lateral nail folds. Causes of chronic paronychia include excessive moisture, contact irritants, trauma, and candida infection. Chronic paronychia is usually multifactorial and difficult to treat. The aim of the present work was to assess the role of neodymium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet (Nd:YAG) laser as a new modality for the treatment of chronic paronychia. In this interventional pilot study, eight female patients suffering from long-standing paronychia received 2-5 Nd:YAG laser sessions (4 weeks apart). Fluences ranged between 70 to 80 J/cm(2), using a 2.5-mm spot size handpiece, and pulse duration was set at 0.7 ms. Patients were digitally photographed and clinically evaluated before starting the treatment and at each session. Seven of our patients showed various degree of improvement regarding erythema and swelling of their proximal nail folds. Nail plate abnormalities also improved in six patients. These preliminary results document the efficacy and feasibility of Nd:YAG laser as one of the treatments that could ameliorate chronic paronychia.

El-Komy, M. M., D. M. Abdel Halim, N. Samir, R. A. Hegazy, H. I. Gawdat, and S. A. Shoeb, "Nail changes in female pemphigus vulgaris patients on immunosuppressive therapy.", International journal of women's dermatology, vol. 1, issue 2, pp. 82-84, 2015. Abstract

BACKGROUND: Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) patients receiving immunosuppressive therapy may develop nail alterations resulting from infection, skin disorder, or drug regimen.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to describe nail changes in PV female patients receiving immunosuppressive therapy and to report the frequency of associated fungal and bacterial growth in the patients' nails.

METHODS: Twenty-five female PV patients who had at least one acquired finger or toenail abnormality and had been administered at least one immunosuppressive drug were included in the study. Nail alterations were recorded. Nail scrapings were collected from abnormal nails for fungal and bacterial examination.

RESULTS: Positive fungal and bacterial cultures were detected in 20 (80%) of patients' nail samples. Five patients reported nail alterations coinciding with disease onset, whereas 13 reported nail changes after administration of immunosuppressive therapy.

LIMITATIONS: Lack of a control group (patients on similar immunosuppressive medications for conditions other than PV) which would have further supported the findings demonstrated in this observational study.

CONCLUSION: Nail abnormalities in severe PV patients are frequently associated with fungal and bacterial growth. Immunosuppressive therapy potentially initiates such changes.