Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine logoLink to Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine
. 1997 May;90(5):247–249. doi: 10.1177/014107689709000504

Risk factors for ischaemic heart disease in patients with dermatitis herpetiformis.

J T Lear 1, R H Neary 1, P Jones 1, D A Fitzgerald 1, J S English 1
PMCID: PMC1296256  PMID: 9204017

Abstract

For reasons that are unclear, patients with dermatitis herpetiformis (DH) have a lower than expected mortality rate from ischaemic heart disease. We have compared risk factors for ischaemic heart disease (lipids, fibrinogen levels, smoking history and social class) in 29 DH patients and 57 controls matched for age and sex. Patients with DH had significantly lower cholesterol, triglycerides, apolipoprotein B and fibrinogen and higher HDL2; they also smoked less and were of higher social class. The mechanisms underlying these observations merit further investigation. Intestinal abnormalities or gluten-free diet may account for differences in lipid fractions, and the immunomodulatory properties of cigarette smoke may protect against the development of DH.

Full text

PDF
247

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Barton J. R., Riad M. A., Gaze M. N., Maran A. G., Ferguson A. Mucosal immunodeficiency in smokers, and in patients with epithelial head and neck tumours. Gut. 1990 Apr;31(4):378–382. doi: 10.1136/gut.31.4.378. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Brezinka V., Padmos I. Coronary heart disease risk factors in women. Eur Heart J. 1994 Nov;15(11):1571–1584. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.eurheartj.a060432. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Ferson M., Edwards A., Lind A., Milton G. W., Hersey P. Low natural killer-cell activity and immunoglobulin levels associated with smoking in human subjects. Int J Cancer. 1979 May 15;23(5):603–609. doi: 10.1002/ijc.2910230504. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Goode G. K., Miller J. P., Heagerty A. M. Hyperlipidaemia, hypertension, and coronary heart disease. Lancet. 1995 Feb 11;345(8946):362–364. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(95)90345-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Jackson R. L., Morrisett J. D., Gotto A. M., Jr Lipoprotein structure and metabolism. Physiol Rev. 1976 Apr;56(2):259–316. doi: 10.1152/physrev.1976.56.2.259. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Katz S. I., Hall R. P., 3rd, Lawley T. J., Strober W. Dermatitis herpetiformis: the skin and the gut. Ann Intern Med. 1980 Dec;93(6):857–874. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-93-6-857. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Lawley T. J., Strober W., Yaoita H., Katz S. I. Small intestinal biopsies and HLA types in dermatitis herpetiformis patients with granular and linear IgA skin deposits. J Invest Dermatol. 1980 Jan;74(1):9–12. doi: 10.1111/1523-1747.ep12514565. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Loscalzo J. Lipoprotein(a). A unique risk factor for atherothrombotic disease. Arteriosclerosis. 1990 Sep-Oct;10(5):672–679. doi: 10.1161/01.atv.10.5.672. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Meade T. W., Mellows S., Brozovic M., Miller G. J., Chakrabarti R. R., North W. R., Haines A. P., Stirling Y., Imeson J. D., Thompson S. G. Haemostatic function and ischaemic heart disease: principal results of the Northwick Park Heart Study. Lancet. 1986 Sep 6;2(8506):533–537. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(86)90111-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Pillan M. N., Spandrio S., Sleiman I., Meini A., Scalvini T., Balestrieri G. P. Effects of a gluten-free diet on serum lipids and lipoprotein (a) levels in a group of patients with celiac disease. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 1994 Feb;18(2):183–185. doi: 10.1097/00005176-199402000-00010. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Snook J. A., Dwyer L., Lee-Elliott C., Khan S., Wheeler D. W., Nicholas D. S. Adult coeliac disease and cigarette smoking. Gut. 1996 Jul;39(1):60–62. doi: 10.1136/gut.39.1.60. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Swerdlow A. J., Whittaker S., Carpenter L. M., English J. S. Mortality and cancer incidence in patients with dermatitis herpetiformis: a cohort study. Br J Dermatol. 1993 Aug;129(2):140–144. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2133.1993.tb03516.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Vuoristo M., Tarpila S., Miettinen T. A. Serum lipids and fecal steroids in patients with celiac disease: effects of gluten-free diet and cholestyramine. Gastroenterology. 1980 Jun;78(6):1518–1525. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Weinstein W. M. Latent celiac sprue. Gastroenterology. 1974 Apr;66(4):489–493. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine are provided here courtesy of Royal Society of Medicine Press

RESOURCES