Content - Volume 72, Issue 4

A mouse model of acute cutaneous Candida albicans infections was used to study the manner in which these infections are cleared. Results of histological examination were correlated with determinations of the viability by acridine orange staining of superficial C. albicans pseudohyphae retrieved from the surface of the infected skin. The number of organisms retrieved from the skin surface was highe ...

The antibody reactivity and complement fixing capability of circulating IgG subclass antibodies of patients with bullous pemphigoid (BP) were investigated. Four subclasses of polyclonal IgG were purified from the sera of BP patients. The first stage of purification was a combination of chromatographies on DEAE Affi-Gel Blue and protein A-Cellulofine columns. The four polyclonal IgG subclasses were ...

To explore the mechanism by which zinc acts on cutaneous inflammatory lesions, we studied granulocyte zinc levels and in vitro polymorphonuclear leukocyte chemotaxis in 20 acne patients before and after 2 months of zinc therapy (200 mg/day zinc gluconate). The zinc level was assayed by flame absorption spectrophotometry and chemotaxis was performed by agarose assay. After 2 months of treatment, a ...

Purine nucleotide concentrations in skin- and blood-cells of psoriatic patients are abnormal: The increase in the steady state level of cGMP and the decrease in the cAMP concentrations are associated with an enhanced rate of cellular proliferation. Concomitantly we found in the present study decreased ADP and ATP concentrations in blood cells (p less than 0.0001). The change in nucleotide concentr ...

A relatively simple immunohistochemical method was developed and used on cryostat sections. The monoclonal antibody Ki67 was used as marker for actively cycling cells and Pab601 for germinative cells. Counts were expressed as Ki67- or Pab601-positive cells/mm. In order to improve our understanding of the pathogenetic mechanisms in skin disorders with disturbed keratinization we have measured cell ...

Microcirculatory vasomotion is considered to be an important mechanism promoting and facilitating the transfer of blood cells through skin capillaries. Since skin vulnerability of the leg is closely associated with gravitational factors and skin micro-circulation, we investigated by a laser Doppler apparatus influence of postural changes on skin blood flow oscillations in lower limbs of healthy vo ...

Prick test reactions are evaluated and quantified, comparing visual assessment with two non-invasive techniques: remittance spectroscopy and pulsed ultrasound for erythema and skin thickness measurements. Different information is provided by the two methods. Remittance spectroscopy discriminates well between negative and positive reactions (+ or ++), while failing to differentiate stronger reactio ...

Cinnamic alcohol and cinnamic aldehyde are a cause of allergic contact dermatitis in man and give rise to similar rates of positive reactions in routine patch testing. However, data from animal models indicates that the aldehyde is the stronger sensitizer of the two. Circumstantial evidence has pointed to the conversion of alcohol to aldehyde in skin as the cause of cinnamic alcohol sensitization. ...

Ten patients with vitiligo in the active state of the disease and an equal number of age- and sex-matched controls were selected for certain immunological markers. A significantly high production of leukocyte migration inhibition factor was observed in these patients when compared with controls. Levels of immunoglobulin G were found to be significantly elevated. Eighty percent of the cases showed ...

We examined the blood lymphocyte function and phenotypic pattern in a patient with toxic epidermal necrolysis after taking salazopyrin. We studied cell surface markers, natural killer cell activity and mitogen-induced lymphocyte transformation. Our results point to temporary immunosuppression as evidenced by lymphopenia with a large "null cell" population, reduced natural killer cell activity, and ...

Epidermal Langerhans' cells have previously been shown to bear IgE molecules, particularly in atopic dermatitis skin. Using two highly specific antibodies against the antibody-binding chain of the high affinity IgE-receptor, 29C6 and 6F7, we here provide evidence that Langerhans' cells express this receptor in both normal skin (foreskin) and in lesional skin of patients with atopic and stasis ecze ...

Trichophyton rubrum infects skin. This fungus or its products might affect the function of epidermal cells. We previously reported that T. rubrum mannan (TRM) exhibits a suppressive effect on proliferation of human lymphocytes. The goal of the present study was to investigate the possibility of direct interaction of TRM with cultured normal human epidermal keratinocytes (EK). Mannan, a cell wall g ...

We describe a 70-year-old woman with B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukaemia without nodal involvement, who developed non-Hodgkin malignant lymphoma in the toe-nails. Clinically, the affected nails looked like a typical mycotic infection, but later small tumours developed which affected the nails, and biopsy established the diagnosis. Treatment with chlorambucil (Leukeran) and prednisolone had a stri ...

One hundred and seventy-eight patients with severe alopecia areata were asked at interview whether they attributed their first attack of hair loss to an emotional trauma. Twelve patients (6.7%) reported a severely disturbing event during the 6 months preceding the first symptoms of their disease. No patient reported that episodes of hair loss coincided with stressful life events. Emotional trigger ...

The hypoalgesic effect of EMLA cream (Eutectic Mixture of Local Anesthetics) applied for 5, 15, and 30 min on facial skin was evaluated. Hypoalgesia was assessed by changes in pain thresholds to brief argon laser stimuli 0, 2, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 45, and 60 min after removal of EMLA cream. The local cutaneous vascular changes induced by EMLA cream was evaluated by Erythema Index determined by r ...

Cyclosporin A is an effective drug but its use is limited by its side effects. Since oral ketoconazole inhibits the metabolism of oral cyclosporin, we set out to find out whether topical ketoconazole would enhance the effect in the skin of oral cyclosporin. Five patients with contact allergic dermatitis (CAD) were given a 6-day course of cyclosporin (1 mg/kg/day) and applied 2% ketoconazole cream ...

A new skin lesion was encountered in 29 of 970 Behçet's patients. The lesions resembled oral aphthae clinically, were recurrent and left a scar tissue like genital ulcers but were located extragenitally. Skin biopsies could be done in only 4 cases and they all showed vasculitis.

A 36-year-old Japanese woman with an extraskeletal osteochondroma in the left thumb is reported. A roentgenogram showed a calcified tumor, located at the distal portion of the left distal phalanx, which mimicked the fourth phalangeal bone. The pathogenesis might in this case be hamartomatous.

We have observed a high incidence of pemphigus foliaceous, in the absence of therapy with penicillamine, within a small population of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. We suggest that penicillamine as well as inducing autoimmune disease might exacerbate subclinical pemphigus foliaceous in this group, accounting for those few patients whose skin disease fails to resolve following drug withdrawal. ...

Fixed drug eruptions following the use of pyrazolone derivatives occurred in 4 members of the same family: a 12-year-old girl, her grandmother, and two of her great aunts. Although the pathophysiologic events leading to this type of reaction are unknown, these cases of familial occurrence suggest that genetic predisposition might be an important causal factor.

A 31-year-old black man was examined for evaluation of a suspected occupational disease. Three years earlier he had been suffering from acute mercury intoxication during work in a mercury recycling factory. Skin symptoms then had been a lichenoid drug eruption, patchy alopecia and stomatitis, which had all disappeared rapidly after systemic glucocorticosteroid treatment. The examination revealed p ...

A new semisynthetic macrolide roxithromycin was evaluated for its potential use in the treatment of Lyme borreliosis. Using a macro-dilution broth technique, Borrelia burgdorferi was shown to be susceptible to roxithromycin with a minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) of 0.06-0.25 microgram/ml. A systemic B. burgdorferi infection was established in gerbils; a dosage of greater than or equal to ...

A case of subcorneal pustular dermatosis (Sneddon-Wilkinson disease) is reported in a patient with a one-year history of Crohn's disease. Subcorneal pustular dermatosis has been described in association with monoclonal gammopathy, but to our knowledge it has not been associated with Crohn's disease. This new association reinforces the hypothesis of a possible common pathogenesis for neutrophilic d ...

In this article, we report on 4 cases of a dome-shaped nodule on the dorsum of the finger, which had been present since birth and slowly enlarged. On light microscopic examination, these nodules showed similarities to verrucous hemangioma. However, they were characterized by distinct clinical features and proliferation of dermal connective tissue. We consider these tumors to be a variant of verruc ...

We have performed a retrospective study of 59 patients with vitiligo who received PUVA therapy from 1972 to 1986. Sixteen patients had generalized vitiligo and 43 vitiligo in four locations (focal vitiligo). In both groups there were repigmentation in 44% of the patients. Half of the repigmented patients had improved more than 50%. None developed hypertrichosis, actinic keratosis, lentigines, or s ...

The case is presented of a 48-year-old female suffering from diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis (diffuse scleroderma) since 8 years, who went into renal failure as part of hemolytic uremic syndrome following 3 weeks' treatment with 3.8 mg/kg cyclosporin A. Hemolytic uremic syndrome has previously been described in transplant patients receiving cyclosporin A. There are also four cases reported in ...

We report two cases of cellulitis of the legs occurring in adults where Escherichia coli (E. coli) was, or probably was, the causative bacterial agent. E. coli and other gram-negative bacilli cellulitis are rarely reported. However, in cellulitis, the causative microorganism is rarely identified, and some cases of E. coli cellulitis could be unrecognized. Furthermore, classical risk factors for gr ...

Comment on: Minor skin surgery. Are prophylactic antibiotics ever needed for curettage? [Acta Derm Venereol. 1991]

Comment on: HIV infection and loss of treponemal test reactivity. [Acta Derm Venereol. 1991]

No abstract available.