Content - Volume 67, Issue 1

Immunoreactivity for phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PNMT), the enzyme involved in the conversion of norepinephrine to epinephrine, was present in the basal epidermis and upper dermis in 16 patients with psoriasis. The amount of immunoreactivity was increased tenfold in involved compared to uninvolved skin as characterized by computer-assisted image analysis. In skin from healthy volunteer ...

The Langerhans´ cell (LC) density is known to be reduced in skin lesions as compared to uninvolved skin in patients with psoriasis. It is, however, still unsettled whether the LC density in uninvolved psoriatic skin differs from the density in normal skin. We have enumerated epidermal LC in uninvolved skin from 15 patients with stable psoriasis and in 15 healthy subjects. Punch biopsies from non- ...

Elevated serum triglyceride and low serum HDL cholesterol levels have been reported to be risk factors for occlusive vascular disease. In 20 middle-aged men with psoriasis the serum lipoprotein pattern was compared with that in a group of healthy middle-aged men. In thirteen of the 20 patients the psoriasis was mild to moderate and in seven patients it was severe and widespread. Both groups of pat ...

Collagen metabolism was studied in fibroblast cultures from a patient presenting an epidermolysis bullosa dystrophica recessiva (EBDR) syndrome characterized, in particular, by blistering below the basal lamina observed by electron microscopy. The previously described increase in collagen production was confirmed and several other qualitative modifications of the secreted collagen were observed, i ...

The nature of the epidermal cellular infiltrate in pagetoid reticulosis is still subject to intense controversies. Using a panel of recently developed monoclonal antibodies against cell activation and proliferation associated antigens it was possible to demonstrate the activated state of numerous T cells within the lesional epidermis. Moreover approximately 10% of these T cells reacted with prolif ...

The positive provocation test reactions of the skin of six patients with fixed drug eruption (FDE) were studied from timed skin biopsies taken between 2 hours and 9 days after the appearance of FDE. Monoclonal antibodies to the following immunocompetent cell surface epitopes were used: T3, T4, T6, T8, T9, M1, Ia1, Drc, Leu7 and B cell. The dermal infiltrate comprised 60-80% of T lymphocytes at all ...

The effect of androgenic and anabolic steroids on sebaceous gland activity and the composition of sebum was studied in power athletes. The subject self-administered large doses of androgenic and anabolic hormones during a 12-week-period of strength training. After 4 weeks of administration of hormones the sebum excretion rate increased significantly (p = 0.002) and it remained high throughout the ...

Ten healthy individuals washed their forehead and forearm twice a day over consecutive periods of four weeks with soap and synthetic detergents or vice versa (cross-over design). In general the pH values were higher during the period when soap was applied (the mean pH differed by 0.3 units, p less than 0.01). As a rule the counts of coagulase-negative staphylococci were not much altered. The numbe ...

The efficacy of PUVA and UVB treatment in chronic eczematous dermatitis of the hands was compared in a randomised controlled study including 35 patients who were randomly allocated to PUVA or UVB treatment. One hand was exposed to light and the other served as an untreated control. The dermatitis cleared on the treated hand in all PUVA patients, but in 9 out of 14 there was a relapse within three ...

Thirty outpatients with limited (under 15% of skin area affected), symmetrical psoriasis of the plaque type were included in an open, right-left comparison study. Paraffin-based, 3% dithranol sticks (Ditrastick, Orion Pharmaceutica, Espoo, Finland) and similar, equimolar 4% butantrone sticks were used. Antipsoriatic activity, staining of the skin and clothes and irritation were the parameters foll ...

We report about a 38-year-old male patient with coexisting acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans, lichen sclerosus et atrophicans and recurrent diabetic metabolic disorders since 9 years. Serologically IgG antibodies against Borrelia burgdorferi could be detected. Moveless winded structures, morphologically resembling borreliae could be demonstrated in the urine sediment by dark field microscopy. Ad ...

To elucidate if psoriatic skin involvement induces changes in vitamin D metabolism, the serum concentrations of the major vitamin D metabolites (25-hydroxy-vitamin D(2+3) (25OHD), 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(2+3) (1,25(OH)2D), and 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(2+3) (24,25(OH)2D)) were studied in a group of patients with psoriasis, who had not been exposed to ultraviolet radiation at least three months befo ...

Pityrosporum orbiculare, Candida albicans, Staphylococcus epidermidis and S. aureus were irradiated with UVA and UVB light in vitro. UVB inhibited growth much more effectively than UVA. P. orbiculare was the most sensitive and S. aureus the least sensitive organism. With a dose of 900 mJ cm-2 of UVB a 50 times reduction in number of colony forming units was seen for S. aureus and for the other org ...

Ten psoriatics were tested with three concentrations of butantrone (0.66, 2.0 and 3.9%) on the healthy skin of the back and the irritant and staining reactions were compared with those produced by 0.1 and 0.5% dithranol, both in white petrolatum. Of the three test areas one was stripped before exposure to simulate the penetration of a psoriasis lesion, one after exposure to simulate posttreatment ...

Four patients with photoreactions after Amiodarone therapy are described. The action spectrum for photosensitivity was found in the UVA region. Pigmentation seems to be due to wavelengths below 360 nm.

A patient with epidermodysplasia verruciformis also had lesions of seborrheic keratosis, irritated seborrheic keratosis, and intraepidermal and invasive squamous cell carcinoma as well as infiltrating squamous cell carcinoma associated with eccrine poroma. Electron microscope studies revealed intranuclear virus particles. Immunoperoxidase studies using rabbit anti-bovine papilloma virus serum show ...

Ten male patients suffering from androgenetic alopecia were treated during one year with a lotion containing 1% 11a-hydroxyprogesterone. Eight untreated patients served as control group. The parameters used were hair root status, hair shaft diameter of anagen hair roots and number of hairs with a diameter less than 40 micron. After therapy the cranial region showed an increase in the number and me ...

The efficacy of thioguanine in the treatment of severe cases of psoriasis is demonstrated. This treatment is valuable in selected cases of severe psoriasis in whom other treatment is ineffective or impossible due to side effects. The effect of thioguanine on psoriasis lesions appears to run parallel with depression of the bone marrow. The bone marrow toxicity has to be considered. Patients previou ...

Twenty patients with severe rosacea were treated with isotretinoin for 3-6 months. Six patients initially received 1.0 mg/kg and 14 patients 0.5 mg/kg of isotretinoin. The response was good or excellent in all patients and the papulopustular lesions in particular cleared promptly. Patients receiving 1.0 mg/kg of isotretinoin experienced more side-effects and the dose had to be lowered in five of t ...