title: Herpes zoster in Japanese patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.
abstract: We examined retrospectively the incidence of herpes zoster among 58 Japanese patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 42 patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and 21 patients with autoimmune bullous diseases (AIBD). The incidence of herpes zoster was significantly higher in SLE (46.6%) than in SSc (9.5%) or AIBD (4.7%) (P < 0.001). The rate of positive delayed-type skin test with varicella zoster virus antigens was significantly lower in SLE than in SSc [4/16 (25.0%) vs. 11/12 (91.7%), P < 0.001]. In addition, the positive rate of skin test with purified protein derivatives of tuberculin was also low in SLE patients (3/16, 18.8%). These results reconfirm the general impairment in cellular immunity in SLE.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Gunma University School of Medicine, Showamachi, Maebashi, Japan. osamuish@akagi.sb.gunma-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ishikawa
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miyachi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000956:Antigens, Viral; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000150:complications; D005260:Female; D006562:Herpes Zoster / Q000150:complications*; D014645:Herpesvirus 3, Human / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D006968:Hypersensitivity, Delayed / Q000276:immunology; D007111:Immunity, Cellular / Q000276:immunology; D015994:Incidence; D007564:Japan; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012595:Scleroderma, Systemic / Q000150:complications; D012872:Skin Diseases, Vesiculobullous / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology; D012882:Skin Tests / Q000379:methods; D014374:Tuberculin Test
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral