A Virgili1, A Borghi1, S Cazzaniga2, A Di Landro2, L Naldi2,3, S Minghetti1, A Verrone4, E Stroppiana4, M Caproni5, M R Nasca6, A D'Antuono7, M Papini8, V Di Lernia9, M Corazza1. 1. Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche, Sezione di Dermatologia e Malattie Infettive, Università degli Studi di Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy. 2. Centro Studi GISED - FROM, Bergamo, Italy. 3. UO di Dermatologia, Azienda Ospedaliera papa Giovanni XXIII, Bergamo, Italy. 4. Dermosifilopatia 2, Azienda Ospedaliera Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Torino, Italy. 5. Malattie Rare Dermatologiche e Immunopatologia Cutanea, U.O. Dermatologia I ASF-Università di Firenze, Firenze, Italy. 6. UOC Dermatologia, P. O. G. Rodolico Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Policlinico Vittorio Emanuele, Catania, Italy. 7. Dermatologia, Dipartimento di Medicina Specialistica, Diagnostica e Sperimentale, Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy. 8. Clinica Dermatologica di Terni, Dipartimento di Specialità Chirurgiche e Biomediche, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Perugia, Italy. 9. Struttura Semplice di Dermatologia Immunologica e Pediatrica, Arcispedale Santa Maria Nuova - IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliera di Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, Italy.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Limited data are available on risk factors associated with lichen sclerosus and no data are available on gender differences in genital lichen sclerosus (GLS). OBJECTIVE: This multicentre study aimed at identifying potential risk factors for GLS, through data collection from a large, mixed-sex sample of patients comparing gender-related differences in relation to data from the general population. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study on 729 subjects (53.8% females, 46.2% males) affected with GLS, consecutively observed within a network of 15 Italian dermatology units. The following information was collected: demographic data, anthropometric measures, comorbidities, family history of LS, clinical features and symptoms related to GLS. RESULTS: Overweight and obesity, blood hypertension, hypothyroidism and an educational attainment equal or above upper secondary school level were more frequent among the study patients than among the general Italian population. Moreover, a family history of GLS was reported more frequently than expected among GLS patients. These factors were similar in males and females. The disease tended to occur later in females than in males. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that metabolic factors, and possibly a sedentary lifestyle, may play a role in GLS pathogenesis in genetically predisposed patients, and that risk profile is similar in males and females despite some difference in the onset of symptoms.
BACKGROUND: Limited data are available on risk factors associated with lichen sclerosus and no data are available on gender differences in genital lichen sclerosus (GLS). OBJECTIVE: This multicentre study aimed at identifying potential risk factors for GLS, through data collection from a large, mixed-sex sample of patients comparing gender-related differences in relation to data from the general population. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study on 729 subjects (53.8% females, 46.2% males) affected with GLS, consecutively observed within a network of 15 Italian dermatology units. The following information was collected: demographic data, anthropometric measures, comorbidities, family history of LS, clinical features and symptoms related to GLS. RESULTS: Overweight and obesity, blood hypertension, hypothyroidism and an educational attainment equal or above upper secondary school level were more frequent among the study patients than among the general Italian population. Moreover, a family history of GLS was reported more frequently than expected among GLS patients. These factors were similar in males and females. The disease tended to occur later in females than in males. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that metabolic factors, and possibly a sedentary lifestyle, may play a role in GLS pathogenesis in genetically predisposed patients, and that risk profile is similar in males and females despite some difference in the onset of symptoms.
Authors: Gyula László Fekete; Dominik Schwarzkopf-Kolb; Ilarie Brihan; Daniel Boda; László Fekete Journal: Exp Ther Med Date: 2022-03-31 Impact factor: 2.447