{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,19]],"date-time":"2026-09-19T12:25:37Z","timestamp":1789820737518,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"13","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,6,30]],"date-time":"2022-06-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1656547200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Research Grant from Wroc\u0142aw Medical University","award":["SUBZ.C260.22.056"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SUBZ.C260.22.056"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Hidradenitis suppurativa\/acne inversa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the pilosebaceous unit leading to formation of painful, inflammatory nodules, abscesses and tunnels in apocrine gland-bearing areas of the skin. Pain and drainage are the most important symptoms associated with reduction of quality of life in HS. On the other hand, an overlooked symptom in quality of life studies is itch, despite the fact that several studies have reported its importance. Various theories have tried to explain the pathogenesis of itch in HS, such as the presence of mast cells in the cell infiltrates and elevated Ig E levels in the lesional skin. Smoking and advanced stage of disease have been found to be associated with increased intensity of itch. A PUBMED search was conducted to perform a systematic literature review using the term \u201chidradenitis suppurativa\u201d [all fields], the keywords \u201cpruritus\u201d, \u201citching\u201d, \u201citch\u201d [all fields] and with \u201cAND\u201d as operator. Mast cells and mTor signaling were found to be raised in both lesional and perilesional skin. Itch as a presenting symptom has been found in 35\u201382.6% of patients across multiple studies. It often co-presents with pain and may be misinterpreted as burning, stinging, tickling, tweaking, prickling, etc. The presence of itch is associated with reduced quality of life, depression and impairment of social life. Brodalumab, a monoclonal antibody against IL-17A receptor, produced significant improvements in itch, pain, QoL and depression in patients with moderate to severe HS. Statins have shown some reduction in itch intensity score. Further studies are required to gain a better understanding of the etiopathogenesis and optimal therapeutic modalities for itch in HS that will allow clinicians to better address issue and reduce its impact on quality of life.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm11133813","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,1]],"date-time":"2022-07-01T00:21:50Z","timestamp":1656634910000},"page":"3813","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":19,"title":["Itch in Hidradenitis Suppurativa\/Acne Inversa: A Systematic Review"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5900-4696","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Puneet","family":"Agarwal","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, SMS Medical College and Hospital, Jaipur 302004, Rajasthan, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Snehal Balvant","family":"Lunge","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprosy, Bharati Vidyapeeth (DTU) Medical College and Hospital, Pune 411043, Maharashtra, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7590-8265","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nandini Sundar","family":"Shetty","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprosy, Bharati Vidyapeeth (DTU) Medical College and Hospital, Pune 411043, Maharashtra, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Priyanka","family":"Karagaiah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, Bangalore 560002, Karnataka, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6951-2894","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Steven","family":"Daveluy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alex G.","family":"Ortega-Loayza","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Thrasyvoulos","family":"Tzellos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, NLSH University Hospital, 8092 Bod\u00f8, Norway"},{"name":"European Hidradenitis Suppurativa Foundation e.V., 06847 Dessau, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0766-6342","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jacek C.","family":"Szepietowski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"European Hidradenitis Suppurativa Foundation e.V., 06847 Dessau, Germany"},{"name":"Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Allergology, Wroclaw Medical University, 50-367 Wroclaw, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1646-2608","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Christos C.","family":"Zouboulis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"European Hidradenitis Suppurativa Foundation e.V., 06847 Dessau, Germany"},{"name":"Departments of Dermatology, Venereology, Allergology and Immunology, Dessau Medical Center, Brandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane and Faculty of Health Sciences Brandenburg, 06847 Dessau, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6863-8719","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stephan","family":"Grabbe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, University Medical Center Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8646-1179","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mohamad","family":"Goldust","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, University Medical Center Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,6,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"455","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1600-0625.2008.00712_1.x","article-title":"What causes hidradenitis suppurativa?","volume":"17","author":"Kurzen","year":"2008","journal-title":"Exp. 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