This issue of Immunology and Allergy Clinics provides a comprehensive review of autoimmune skin diseases, including bullous pemphigoid, pemphigus vulgaris, linear IgA disease, dermatitis herpetiformis, blistering and bullous diseases.

This is the most comprehensive review of the idiotypic network available. All the current knowledge of idiotypes of the various antibodies is incorporated in this volume. The pathogenic role of idiotypes in autoimmunity and cancer is reviewed in depth. The therapeutic part focusses on harnessing anti-idiotypes for treating autoimmunological disorders, and on the employment of idiotypes for vaccines in cancer and infectious diseases, as well as explaining the manipulation of the idiotypic network in autoimmunity and cancer idiotypes and vaccines.

This issue of Immunology and Allergy Clinics, guest edited by Drs. Peck Ong and Peter Schmid-Grendelmeier, is devoted to Allergic Skin Diseases. Articles in this issue include Wet-wrap Therapy in Atopic Dermatitis; Biologics in Chronic Urticaria; Clinical Measures of Chronic Urticaria; Cutaneous Manifestation of Drug Allergy; Itch in Atopic Dermatitis; Biomarkers in Atopic Dermatitis; Differential Diagnosis of Atopic Dermatitis; Differential Diagnosis of Chronic Urticaria; ACE-inhibitor-induced Angioedema; The Role of Fungi in Atopic Dermatitis; Cutaneous Manifestation of Food Allergy; Pediatric Mastocytosis; Allergic Contact Dermatitis; Hereditary Angioedema; Infectious Complications in Atopic Dermatitis; and Cutaneous Manifestations Primary Immunodeficiency/Autoimmunity.

This issue of Immunology and Allergy Clinics provides the latest essential updates in angioedema. This potentially life-threatening condition, as is the case with laryngeal angioedema, is a rare but important disease. Leading physicians review the spectrum of angioedema to provide a framework for approaching the management of these patients. Differential diagnosis is discussed in depth, as a variety of other conditions can mimic some aspects of angioedema. Angioedema occurs both in conjunction with or separately from the more common swelling disorder, urticaria. Various types of angioedema that classically occur in the absence of urticaria are discussed. Multiple types of hereditary angioedema, idiopathic recurring angioedema, and Gleich’s Syndrome are covered.

A controversial, revisionist approach to autoimmune and allergic disorders considers the perspective that the human immune system has been disabled by twentieth-century hygiene and medical practices.

Urticaria, or hives, is a skin rash characterized by red, raised bumps which are usually itchy and create a burning sensation. Urticaria can be caused by allergic and non-allergic reactions. For patients with chronic hives, this condition is usually the result of an autoimmune disorder. This issue will cover the latest diagnosis and treatment strategies for this condition at the point of care, across several patient types, such as children and pregnant women.

This volume details our current understanding of the architecture and signaling capabilities of the B cell antigen receptor (BCR) in health and disease. The first chapters review new insights into the assembly of BCR components and their organization on the cell surface. Subsequent contributions focus on the molecular interactions that connect the BCR with major intracellular signaling pathways such as Ca2+ mobilization, membrane phospholipid metabolism, nuclear translocation of NF-kB or the activation of Bruton’s Tyrosine Kinase and MAP kinases. These elements orchestrate cytoplasmic and nuclear responses as well as cytoskeleton dynamics for antigen internalization. Furthermore, a key mechanism of how B cells remember their cognate antigen is discussed in detail. Altogether, the discoveries presented provide a better understanding of B cell biology and help to explain some B cell-mediated pathogenicities, like autoimmune phenomena or the formation of B cell tumors, while also paving the way for eventually combating these diseases.