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Factors Influencing Small Bowel Changes in Dermatitis Herpetiformis
Author(s) -
RobertsThomson I. C.,
Stevens D. P.,
Michel B.,
Braun W. E.,
Morris P. J.,
Wall A. J.,
Fone D. J.,
Dworken H. J.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.596
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1445-5994
pISSN - 0004-8291
DOI - 10.1111/j.1445-5994.1977.tb04395.x
Subject(s) - dermatitis herpetiformis , medicine , gastroenterology , small intestine , diarrhea , dermatology , disease
Summary: Factors influencing small bowel changes in dermatitis herpetiformis. I. C. Roberts‐Thomson, D. P. Stevens, B. Michel, W. E. Braun, P. J. Morris, A. J. Wall, D. J. Fone and H. J. Dworken, Aust. N.Z. J. Med., 1977, 7. pp. 356–362. Factors influencing small bowel morphology in dermatitis herpetiformis (DH) were investigated by comparing patients with DH and normal small bowel biopsies to patients with DH and abnormal small bowel biopsies. The mean age of 18 patients with morphological changes in small bowel (38 years) was significantly lower (P < 0 001) than the mean age of nine patients with normal bowel mucosa (60 years). HLA typing confirmed the high frequency of HLA‐B8 in DH (64%) but HLA‐B8 was unrelated to the presence or severity of small bowel lesions. Four patients had diarrhoea with progressive weight loss or abdominal cramps subsequently responsive to gluten withdrawal. In this subgroup serum levels of IgG and IgM were significantly lower than in patients with normal small bowel mucosa. Small bowel involvement appeared to be independent of the duration and severity of skin disease, and the deposition of immunoglobulin and complement (C3) in the dermal papillae of skin adjacent to skin lesions.