Actinic Prurigo Research

Research articles regarding treatment and characteristics of interest to people with actinic prurigo. For more information, visit www.pubmed.com to continue searching.  At pubmed, enter your search criteria. Once you have results, choose the Display option "abstracts". Once you find an article you like, click "Related Articles" to find similar articles.

Actinic prurigo: clinical features and prognosis.

Lane PR, Hogan DJ, Martel MJ, Reeder B, Irvine J., J Am Acad Dermatol. 1992 May;26(5 Pt 1):683-92.
Division of Dermatology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.

BACKGROUND: Actinic prurigo, an idiopathic familial photodermatosis, has been described in American indians in Manitoba, Canada, as well as in the United States, Mexico, and South America. OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to describe the clinical features and prognosis of actinic prurigo in Amerindians in Saskatchewan, Canada. METHODS: Clinical examinations, questionnaires, phototesting, and laboratory tests were used. RESULTS: We present a series of 93 Amerindian patients. The face is the most commonly involved area. A hereditary tendency, cheilitis, and pruritus are prominent features. One third of patients report some lesions, often minor, during the winter. The majority of patients phototested were sensitive to ultraviolet A light. CONCLUSION: We find the age of onset of actinic prurigo to be the most important feature in determining the type of eruption and the prognosis for the patient. In general the younger ages of onset (up to 20 years of age) are associated with cheilitis and more acute eruptions and are more likely to improve over 5 years. Those who develop actinic prurigo as adults (21 years of age and older) tend to have a milder and more persistent dermatosis.

PMID: 1583166 

Actinic prurigo: A retrospective analysis of 21 cases referred to an Australian photobiology clinic
Rohan Crouch,1 Peter Foley,1,2 and Christopher Baker2

 SUMMARY
Actinic prurigo (AP) is a rare acquired idiopathic photodermatosis, reported most often in American Indians, but also in Caucasian and Asian populations. The skin lesions in AP predominantly affect exposed sites but may involve covered areas, and often result in postinflammatory scarring. The diagnosis of AP can be difficult and relies on a combination of history, clinical experience and investigations including phototesting and human leucocyte antigen typing. Twenty-one patients (17 women, four men) diagnosed with AP at the photobiology clinic at St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne were reviewed in this retrospective study. The mean age of patients at presentation to the clinic was 25 years, with the mean age of onset being 14 years. Phototesting was undertaken in 20 patients, with 12 (60%) having reduced and eight (40%) normal minimal erythema doses. Human leucocyte antigen typing indicated 18 patients (85.7%) were DR4 positive, with further subtyping of the DR4 allele establishing that 15 patients (71.4%) were DRB1*0407 positive and that two (9.5%) were DRB1*0401 positive. This condition is often recalcitrant, with treatment options including photoprotection, topical and oral corticosteroids, antimalarials, phototherapy and thalidomide.
Actinic prurigo