Healthcare agencies have reported cases of a rare dermatosis caused by sunlight in patients who are using proton pump inhibitors (PPIs).
The pumps reduce the secretion of stomach acid and are widely used in the management of conditions like acid-reflux and gastric ulcers.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has linked the use of PPIs and the development of subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus, a skin condition that causes scaly plaques or lesions that is usually also accompanied by joint pain.
If a patient treated with a proton pump inhibitor develops lesions—especially in sun-exposed areas of the skin—and it is accompanied by arthralgia: