title: How to better understand the angry back syndrome.
abstract: The angry back or excited skin syndrome consists of patch test reactions that are positive only when associated with adjacent or distant inflammatory skin lesions. Recent experiments in the mouse and man have provided the knowledge on the critical role of tumor necrosis factor in contact dermatitis as well as its importance for the induction of adhesion molecules. Based on these new findings we speculate on mechanisms that might explain this poorly understood clinical phenomenon.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, University Hospital of Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pasche-Koo
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hauser
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000502:physiology*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000502:physiology; D003877:Dermatitis, Contact / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D013577:Syndrome; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; D016207:Cytokines; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha