DeCure's autonomous Dermatology AI scientist is researching a drug-repurposing hypothesis for Yellow Nail Syndrome — screening already-approved drugs against its 1-gene Open Targets disease module to publish open-access research. Research is fast; the path to publication is funded in milestone stages.
Disease moduleYellow Nail Syndrome maps to a 1-gene Open Targets module — the target space DeCure's AI scientist screens approved drugs against.
DeCure.ai methodSignature reversal (LINCS) plus network proximity (STRING) rank already-approved drugs likely to perturb this module — the same engine that produces DeCure.ai's repurposing hypotheses.
Repurposing thesisScreening approved medicines against this disease module, then publishing the evidence for the strongest candidate. Known pharmacology and human exposure data make the first question sharper — they do not establish safety or efficacy in a new indication.
Research record
01
ResearchComing soon
Candidate research + dossier — target rationale, drug-repurposing thesis and evidence pack.proof: Published dossier + on-chain hash
02
ValidationComing soon
In-vitro biological validation at a contract research org (CRO).proof: CRO contract + in-vitro report
03
Peer review & paperComing soon
Peer-reviewed paper published open-access (preprint + journal).proof: DOI + open-access link + on-chain hash
Current lead
No approved-drug candidate for yellow nail syndrome is corroborated in the literature DeepSearch retrieved. Some conditions are managed with non-pharmacological care — a device, surgery or physical therapy — rather than a medicine; that may be the case here, or the literature we found may simply be too sparse yet to support a drug-repurposing angle.
Molecular view
cadherin EGF LAG seven-pass G-type receptor 1 (CELSR1) — CELSR1 is one of the genes genetically linked to this disease in Open Targets — shown as context, not as a drug target we're pursuing: no approved-drug candidate for this disease is yet corroborated in the literature we found.
Loading structure…
helix sheet apo structuredrag to rotate · scroll to zoom
RCSB Protein Data Bank · entry 8D40 · 3.554 Å · ligand none (apo structure). Experimental structure, not a prediction.
What the evidence adds up to
A single 1983 case report describes a patient whose yellow nail syndrome nail changes developed while taking penicillamine and resolved after the drug was stopped. No other patients were studied, and the report does not claim that penicillamine causes the syndrome in general, only that the association occurred in this one individual.
A 2017 review states that yellow nail syndrome has an incidence of less than one per million persons per year. The classic triad is scleronychia (yellow nails), lymphoedema, and respiratory disease. No specific treatment is available. Treatment with biotin and tocopherol (vitamin E) has been reported to be effective, but was not successful in the patient described in that review. Spontaneous remission occurs in 10–30% of patients. Nail changes may regress with successful treatment of an underlying illness.
A 2014 case report notes that approximately 200 cases have been described in the literature, that disease etiology is unclear, and that no accepted standards of treatment exist. It describes a 65-year-old man with shortness of breath, swelling of both upper and lower limbs, and nail changes.
What is still missing is any controlled trial of any drug for this syndrome, a clear understanding of its pathogenesis, and a way to identify which patients might benefit from treatment of an underlying condition versus those who will remit spontaneously. Without larger patient registries or randomised studies, no drug can be recommended.
Evidence
Retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works and resolved on OpenAlex — ranked by citations, including the results that did not work.
Archives of Dermatology · 1973 · 58 citations
Yellow Nail Syndrome
AbstractThe yellow nail syndrome includes slowgrowing, opaque yellow nails with exaggerated lateral curvature, lymphedema, and chronic respiratory disorders such as chronic bronchitis, pleural effusions and chronic sinusitis. The nail changes may precede the lymphedema by a number of years and may persist for many years. In one reported case the yellow nails had persisted for 41 years. A case is described in which the classical yellow nails, of 11 months' duration, returned to normal within 6½ months after oral treatment with vitamin E in the form of d, α-tocopheryl acetate, 800 international units daily was begun, and with parallel improvement of an associated chronic bronchitis and chronic sinusitis.
Yellow nail syndrome associated with penicillamine therapy
AbstractA patient is described in whom the nail changes of the yellow nail syndrome developed whilst she was taking penicillamine. Stopping the drug was associated with resolution of the nail changes. The yellow nail syndrome was first described in 1964 (Samman and White), but the cause is still unknown. Impaired lymphatic drainage is thought to be a factor in the pathogenesis, and lymphoedema is often an accompanying feature. We describe a case in which nail changes, typical of those described in the yellow nail syndrome, occurred in a patient treated with d-penicillamine, and in whom the nails reverted to normal on withdrawing the drug. (Received March 15, 1983.)
Deutsches Ärzteblatt international · 2017 · 2 citations · open access
Yellow Nail Syndrome
AbstractYellow Nail SyndromeA 64-year-old woman complained of yellow nail discoloration of more than one year's duration, with partial dystrophy of the nails.The changes had first appeared in the aftermath of a chronic upper airway infection, at about the same time as an operation on the paranasal sinuses.She also had persistent swelling of the ankles.We made the clinical diagnosis of yellow nail syndrome and ruled out onychomycosis.Yellow nail syndrome is a rare disease, with an incidence of approximately less than one per million persons per year.It can affect persons of either sex and is characterized by the triad of scleronychia (yellow nails), lymphedema, and respiratory disease.It can arise in association with neoplastic, endocrine, or rheumatic disorders; therefore, thorough interdisciplinary evaluation and clinical follow-up are indicated.No specific treatment is available.Treatment with biotin (vitamin B7) and tocopherol (vitamin E) has been reported to be effective, but was not successful in this patient.10-30% of patients undergo spontaneous remission.The nail changes also regress with successful treatment of the underlying illness.
Zanco Journal of Medical Sciences · 2014 · 1 citations · open access
Yellow nail syndrome: a case report
AbstractBackground and objective: Yellow nail syndrome is a rare clinical syndrome. Given the low number of known cases (approx. 200 cases described) and unclear disease etiology, no accepted standards of treatment exist. Case report: A 65 years old man presented to Rizgary Teaching Hospital consultation department of internal medicine with shortness of breath, swelling of both upper and lower limbs and nail changes.
DMW - Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift · 2015 · 1 citations
Yellow-Nail-Syndrom
Abstract<b>Anamnese und klinischer Befund:</b> Bei einem 58-jährigen Mann kam es zu einer progressiven Gelbfärbung sämtlicher Nägel, die im zeitlichen Zusammenhang mit der Diagnose einer chronischen Rhinosinusitis und exazerbierter COPD mit mehreren Pneumonien stand. <b>Untersuchungen:</b> Wir führten wiederholte Pilzkulturen und PCR (Nachweis von Pilz-DNA) zum Ausschluss einer Onychomykose durch. Röntgen-Thorax, sowie Computertomografie der Lunge, eine erweiterte Lungenfunktionsdiagnostik, EKG, Echokardiografie und Abdomensonografie waren bereits vor der dermatologischen Erstkonsultation durchgeführt worden und waren unauffällig. <b>Therapie und Verlauf:</b> Die Fingernägel wuchsen im Beobachtungszeitraum unter Vitamin-E-Einnahme gesund nach. Die meisten Zehennägel blieben verfärbt und verdickt. Nach der dermatologischen Erstvorstellung wurde der Patient wiederholt pneumonologisch kontrolliert, es bestand kein weiterer Handlungsbedarf bezüglich der Atemwegserkrankungen. <b>Folgerung:</b> Eine Gelbfärbung sämtlicher Nägel ist ein diagnostisches Zeichen des Yellow-Nail-Syndroms und steht im Zusammenhang mit Atemwegserkrankungen, deren Behandlung oft schwierig ist und interdisziplinärer Betreuung bedarf.
Vestnik dermatologii i venerologii · 2021 · 0 citations · open access
Yellow nail syndrome
AbstractYellow nail syndrome is an extremely rare syndrome, mainly in people over 50 years of age, occurring both systemically and in isolation and requiring the most careful collection of anamnesis, since this condition has a close relationship with respiratory diseases, malignant neoplasms of internal organs and rheumatoid arthritis. Moreover, this rare disease is not sufficiently studied to fully understand its pathogenesis and effective treatment. Patients pay attention to the yellow color of the nails, associated with the deposition of melanin, bile pigments and hemosiderin in the submarginal space, slowing down the growth and thickening of the nail. It should be noted that the change in the nail plates can be observed long before the other clinical manifestations of this syndrome are detected, and probably this can in some cases serve as a harbinger of incipient changes in the lung tissue, neoplasms and changes in the lymphatic vessels. In this regard, it is extremely important to clearly differentiate this condition and refer patients to related specialists for verification of the diagnosis and further treatment.
RöFo - Fortschritte auf dem Gebiet der Röntgenstrahlen und der bildgebenden Verfahren · 1978 · 0 citations
Lymphographische Befunde beim Yellow-Nail-Syndrom
AbstractAnhand der bisher beschriebenen ca. 38 Fälle des Yellow-Nail-Syndroms in der Literatur und der Beobachtungen bei einer eigenen Patientin wird die Symptomatik dieses seltenen Krankheitsbildes beschrieben und auf die verschiedenen Kombinationsmöglichkeiten hingewiesen. Besonders ausführlich werden die lymphographischen Befunde des eigenen Falles dargestellt.
Disease module: DeepOracle (Open Targets). Structures: RDKit from PubChem SMILES. Literature: retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works (targeted per-candidate search), resolved on OpenAlex.
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