Acquired Cutis Laxa

Pr. Bert CALLEWAERT

This type of Cutis Laxa still remains the worst known.  Not included in the genetic forms, it can nevertheless be said that there is a predisposition to develop it or not.

If, for a long time, we have been talking in a general way about Acquired Cutis Laxa Acquise, today we know that there are at least two different types, depending on the context in which it starts and the clinical signs it induces.

Unlike the genetic types that show a defect on various stages of the « creation » of elastic fibers, Acquired Cutis Laxa shows as a destruction of those fibers. It is therefore a different process resulting from either an inflammatory or an autoimmune context. A lot remains to be discovered about Acquired Cutis Laxa Acquise but one must keep in mind that :

• The morphology of Elastic Fibers, the pathophysiology and the clinical presentation are intrinsically linked,
• An inflammatory response/autoimmunity can result in the degradation of elastic fibers
• The infiltration of immune cell is a hallmark of the degradation of elastic fibers in the acquired form
• The Cathepsin V protein might be a new player in the degradation of elastic fibers