Current therapeutic strategies for genetic skin disorders rely on the complex process of grafting genetically engineered tissue to recipient wound beds. Because fibroblasts synthesize and secrete extracellular matrix, we explored their utility in recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB), a blistering disease due to defective extracellular type VII collagen. Intradermal injection of RDE...

A painstaking effort spanning eight years is described in the new book on epidermolysis bullosa by Tobias Gedde-Dahl. The author carefully identified all individuals with this disease in Norway and described in great detail the clinical features of each case. The study is a combined clinical and genetic analysis of 53 probands and 96 of 104 living secondary cases. Of the 46 families, there are ...

Recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB) is among the most serious rare skin diseases. It is also the rare skin disease for which most effort has been expended in developing advanced therapeutic interventions. RDEB is caused by collagen VII deficiency resulting from COL7A1 mutations. Therapeutic approaches seek to replenish collagen VII and thus restore dermal-epidermal adhesion. Thera...

Epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is an inherited connective tissue disease causing blisters in the skin and mucosal membranes. In severe cases, EB may be associated with renal damage through several mechanisms, mainly immunological ones. The present case described a young male with dystrophic recessive EB who developed an advanced chronic renal damage secondary to tubulointerstitial nephritis that wa...

Epidermolysis bullosa is a group of disorders whose common primary feature is the formation of blisters following trivial trauma. Recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB), a subtype of epidermolysis bullosa, is frequently associated with growth retardation. This growth retardation has been reported to be caused by trophopathy following protein loss through skin lesions. Endocrine disor...

Epidermolysis bullosa (EB) pruriginosa is an unusual variant of dystrophic EB in which intense itching can lead to striking skin changes resembling acquired skin disorders such as nodular prurigo or hypertrophic lichen planus. The molecular pathology involves mutations in the COL7A1 gene, but the nature of the mutations is similar to those seen in other non-pruritic forms of dystrophic EB. The ...