Pyoderma Gangrenosum and Associated Inflammatory Dermatopathies
Summary
Pyoderma gangrenosum is a rare, non-infectious neutrophilic dermatosis characterised by rapidly progressive, painful ulcerations with undermined violaceous borders. It often presents in association with systemic conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis and haematological malignancies. Lesions may occur at trauma sites (pathergy) and follow an unpredictable course, ranging from single, self-limited ulcers to chronic, relapsing disease with significant morbidity. Beyond classic ulcerative forms, pyoderma gangrenosum belongs to a spectrum of autoinflammatory and neutrophilic skin disorders that includes pustular, bullous and vegetative variants, as well as related entities such as Sweet’s syndrome and neutrophilic urticarial dermatosis. Pathogenesis is incompletely understood but involves dysregulated innate immunity with abnormal neutrophil recruitment and activation, alongside contributions from adaptive T-cell responses and proinflammatory cytokine networks. Diagnosis remains clinical, supported by histopathology and exclusion of mimics. Management is challenging and typically requires systemic immunomodulation, including corticosteroids, calcineurin inhibitors, biologic agents and targeted cytokine antagonists, alongside meticulous wound care and pain control.
Research from Nature Portfolio
No recent Nature Portfolio content available.
Pyoderma Gangrenosum and Associated Inflammatory Dermatopathies publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in pyoderma gangrenosum and associated inflammatory dermatopathies across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Neutrophilic dermatosis: A group of skin disorders marked by sterile neutrophil-rich inflammation without infection.
Pathergy: Exaggerated skin response leading to new lesions at sites of minor trauma.
Autoinflammatory disease: Disorders driven by innate immune dysregulation without high-titer autoantibodies or autoreactive T-cells.
Inflammasome: A multiprotein complex in innate immune cells that activates inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β.
Cytokine blockade: Therapeutic inhibition of signalling proteins (e.g., IL-1, TNF) to reduce inflammation.
References
- Efficacy and safety of anakinra and canakinumab in PSTPIP1-associated inflammatory diseases: a comprehensive scoping review. Frontiers in Immunology (2024).
- Adalimumab in Japanese patients with active ulcers of pyoderma gangrenosum: Twenty‐six‐week phase 3 open‐label study. The Journal of Dermatology (2020).
- Mechanisms of Inflammation in Neutrophil-Mediated Skin Diseases. Frontiers in Immunology (2019).
- Recent advances in managing and understanding pyoderma gangrenosum. F1000Research (2019).
- Associated factors and comorbidities in patients with pyoderma gangrenosum in Germany: a retrospective multicentric analysis in 259 patients. Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases (2013).
About these summaries
This Nature Research Intelligence Topic summary is created with the cited references and a large language model. We take care to ground generated text with facts, and have systems in place to gain human feedback on the overall quality of the process in line with our AI principles. We strive to create accurate and useful summaries for people unfamiliar with the research topic and that supports this goal. These pages are a beta release and will be updated as we learn how best to help people gain value from a research topic summary.
Turn complex research questions into confident strategic decisions
When you're under pressure to set direction, justify investment, or understand your competitive position, you need more than raw data — you need trusted insights you can act on.
Benchmark your performance against global peers using robust, methodologically sound analysis.
Combine quantitative metrics with qualitative expert insight to uncover strengths, gaps and emerging opportunities.
Gain tailored, decision-ready recommendations aligned to your strategic priorities.
Talk to us to learn more about our data dashboards and bespoke strategy reports.
Grow research skills, confidence and careers with training built for every stage of the research lifecycle.
Developed with Nature Portfolio journal Editors and internationally renowned experts. Discover three ways to learn:
Self-paced, online courses in convenient bite-sized units, covering key skills across scientific writing, publishing, grant writing, data analysis, and more.
Expert trainer-led workshops with hands-on exercises and real-time feedback across core research skills, delivered via interactive group sessions.
Editor-led workshops combining core principles in writing and publishing, personalised 1:1 feedback from Nature Portfolio Editors and hands-on exercises.
Explore course catalogues and workshop agendas, enquire about the options or request institutional pricing.