MedPath

Pruritus and Pemphigoid in Nursing Home Patients

Completed
Conditions
Pruritus
Pemphigoid
Interventions
Other: Blood sample
Registration Number
NCT02823067
Lead Sponsor
M.F. Jonkman
Brief Summary

The primary objective of this observational study is to describe the prevalence of pruritus and pemphigoid in nursing home patients. Secondary outcomes are the relationships of demographic factors and medical risk factors with pemphigoid, including dementia and neuropsychiatric symptoms, medication use and Karnofsky score.

Detailed Description

Pruritus or itch is the most common skin symptom in elderly patients and is estimated to affect more than 30% of nursing home patients. Clinical and experimental evidence suggests pruritus in elderly patients may be linked to pemphigoid. Pemphigoid is the most common autoimmune skin blistering diseases and mainly affects the elderly. It is successfully treatable with systemic therapy. However, pemphigoid is often missed as a cause of pruritus in elderly patients (nonbullous cutaneous pemphigoid). Although nursing home patients and patients with dementia in particular have the highest risk for development of pemphigoid, no study has been performed in this population so far. Including serological screening for pemphigoid in the diagnostic evaluation of chronic pruritus in nursing home patients may lead to the diagnosis of pemphigoid. Furthermore, chronic itch may be an unrecognized cause of neuropsychiatric symptoms in nursing home patients with dementia.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
125
Inclusion Criteria
  • Inpatient of a nursing home
  • Age 65 years or above
  • Subject or their official representatives have signed informed consent
Exclusion Criteria
  • Age below 65 years
  • Subjects who do not have signed informed consent
  • Receiving treatment with any systemic immunosuppressive agents
  • Terminally ill patients with a life expectancy of less than 4 weeks

Study & Design

Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Study Design
Not specified
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Nursing home patientsBlood sampleNursing home patients aged 65 years or above. One extra blood sample of 10 ml will be taken during a routine venapunction for immunoserology testing.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Detection of circulating pemphigoid specific IgG autoantibodies by indirect immunofluorescence microscopy on monkey esophagus substrateDay 1

Anti-basement membrane zone IgG autoantibodies; positive/negative, staining intensity IgG 1+,2+,3+

Detection of circulating pemphigoid specific IgG autoantibodies by immunoblot of keratinocyte extractDay 1

Presence/absence of circulating IgG autoantibodies against BP180 (180kDa) or BP230 (230kDa)

Detection of circulating pemphigoid specific IgG autoantibodies by indirect immunofluorescence on 1M salt-split human skin substrateDay 1

IgG autoantibodies with epidermal side staining of artificial split; positive/negative, staining intensity IgG 1+,2+,3+

Concentration of anti-BP230 IgG autoantibodies by ELISADay 1

Anti-BP230 IgG index; U/mL, cut-off value 9 U/mL

Concentration of anti-BP180 NC16A IgG autoantibodies by ELISADay 1

Anti-BP180 NC16A IgG index; U/mL, cut-off value 9 U/mL

Presence of pruritusDay 1

Presence and intensity of pruritus will be determined (hetero-)anamnestically with the Bullous Pemphigoid Disease Area Index (BPDAI) VAS score and derivative score for all subjects.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
SexDay 1

For all subjects

ComorbiditiesDay 1

Presence/absence of comorbidities dementia, cerebrovascular accident, Parkinson's disease, other neurological disease or other diseases

Karnofsky Performance ScaleDay 1

0% - 100%

AgeDay 1

For all subjects

MedicationDay 1

Registration of medication use for all subjects

Neuropsychiatric symptomsDay 1

Neuropsychiatric Inventory - Nursing Home version in Dutch

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

University Medical Center Groningen

🇳🇱

Groningen, Netherlands

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