Dermatitis herpetiformis in siblings.

Two Caucasian sisters, XZ and YZ, suffered from DH. However, the clinical course of their diseases was different; patient XZ, contrary to her sister YZ, suffered besides dermatitis herpetiformis (DH) also from coeliac disease (CD) and an autoimmune thyroid disease. The sisters were ordered to adhere to gluten-free diet and dapsone was prescribed, however, patient XZ developed a hypersensitivity to dapsone. The HLA typing disclosed that they were homozygous and that they shared HLA alleles DQB10201. Our results confirm the known association of DH to other autoimmune disorders and its well established association the HLA-DQB10201 allele. Although DH is generally not regarded as a familial disease our case report suggests its familial character (Fig. 3, Ref. 10). Full Text (Free, PDF) www.bmj.sk.