Behçet's disease.
Behçet's disease is characterized by recurrent aphthous stomatitis, uveitis, genital ulcers, and skin lesions. The role of the HLA-B*51 gene has been confirmed in recent years, although its contribution to the overall genetic susceptibility to Behçet's disease was estimated to be only 19%. The production of a variety of cytokines by T cells activated with multiple antigens has been shown to play a pivotal role in the activation of neutrophils. As regards the treatment, anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha therapy has been shown to be effective for mucocutaneous symptoms as well as for sight-threatening panuveitis, although a randomized, controlled trial is required.
Department of Internal Medicine, Teikyo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan. shunsei@med.teikyo-u.ac.jp
Shunsei
S
Hirohata
Hirotoshi
H
Kikuchi
D000818:Animals; D001528:Behcet Syndrome / Q000235:genetics* / Q000628:therapy; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D015235:HLA-B Antigens / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D059949:HLA-B51 Antigen; D006801:Humans
D015235:HLA-B Antigens; D059949:HLA-B51 Antigen