Factitious dermatitis, also known as dermatitis artefacta, is a form of factitious disorder in which patients will intentionally feign symptoms and produce signs of disease in an attempt to assume the patient role. It is also self-inflicted skin damage, most commonly from prolonged deliberate scratching, but sometimes by means of sharp instruments or another agency. : 391 : 61

See also
List of cutaneous conditions

References


== External links ==
Interferon gamma (IFN-γ) is a dimerized soluble cytokine that is the only member of the type II class of interferons. The existence of this interferon, which early in its history was known as immune interferon, was described by E. F. Wheelock as a product of human leukocytes stimulated with phytohemagglutinin, and by others as a product of antigen-stimulated lymphocytes. It was also shown to be produced in human lymphocytes. or tuberculin-sensitized mouse peritoneal lymphocytes challenged with Mantoux test (PPD); the resulting supernatants were shown to inhibit growth of vesicular stomatitis virus. Those reports also contained the basic observation underlying the now widely employed IFN-γ release assay used to test for tuberculosis. In humans, the IFN-γ protein is encoded by the IFNG gene. Function
IFN-γ, or type II interferon, is a cytokine that is critical for innate and adaptive immunity against viral, some bacterial and protozoan infections. IFN-γ is an important activator of macrophages and inducer of major histocompatibility complex class II molecule expression. Aberrant IFN-γ expression is associated with a number of autoinflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The importance of IFN-γ in the immune system stems in part from its ability to inhibit viral replication directly, and most importantly from its immunostimulatory and immunomodulatory effects. IFN-γ is produced predominantly by natural killer cells (NK) and natural killer T cells (NKT) as part of the innate immune response, and by CD4 Th1 and CD8 cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) effector T cells once antigen-specific immunity develops as part of the adaptive immune response.