Content - Volume 70, Issue 6

This report concerns the development of a short, simple, non-invasive test for assessing sensitivity to irritant dermatitis. Application of NaOH (0.005-2.0 mol/l) to human skin resulted in significantly greater skin surface water loss directly after exposure (1-15 min) than of control (water). The increase in skin surface water loss after NaOH application was dose-dependent (0.005-0.1 mol/l) and a ...

Human skin was patch tested with sodium lauryl sulphate or with water only for 48 h and biopsied immediately and after 24 h, then analyzed by immunocytochemistry and electron microscopy. Sodium lauryl sulphate produced a decrease in the number of epidermal Langerhans' cells and an increase in dermal Langerhans' cells, with individual variations. The 48-h water occlusion controls showed only slight ...

Forty-three out-patients with stable plaque-type psoriasis involving 10-30% of the skin participated in a single-blind controlled study. The psoriasis lesions on one half of the body were treated with a lubricating base of the oil-in-water type before UVB exposure, while those on the other side of the body received UVB only. The rates of improvement of scaling, infiltration and erythema were compa ...

An 82-year-old Japanese woman had numerous palmoplantar keratotic plugs and pits, resembling 'music box spines'. Histological examination revealed compact columns of parakeratosis in the horny layer. Ultrastructually, the affected stratum corneum contained numberous variable-sized pyknotic nuclei, and cells in the stratum granulosum contained fewer keratohyalin granules. Autoradiographic analysis ...

The prevalence of cutis verticis gyrata was studied in a psychiatric institutional population of 494 patients, the majority of whom were mentally retarded or had chronic schizophrenia. Twenty-two subjects (21 males and 1 female) were found to have primary cutis verticis gyrata, yielding a prevalence of about 4.5%. The frequency of the scalp disorder was 11.4% among mentally retarded patients and 1 ...

Retinoid transfer into breast milk was studied in a psoriatric woman receiving oral acitretin at a dosage of 40 mg once daily. Concentrations of the parent compound and its main metabolite, 13-cis acitretin, were measured in serum and mature milk during the initial nine days of therapy, using reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography. At steady-state, trace amounts of the drug and metab ...

Ninety-eight patients with 10-23 years of uninterrupted immunosuppressive therapy due to renal transplants were investigated for signs of skin disease. Thirty-seven per cent had or had had premalignant or malignant skin lesions. This is significantly different from a control population (p less than 0.0001). There was also a correlation between the length of the immunosuppressive therapy and the ri ...

To evaluate the role of health education in the treatment of childhood atopic eczema, an eczema school was arranged for the parents. Fifty consecutive patients (aged 4 months-6 years 2 months) with atopic eczema of varying severity were randomly assigned into two groups; one group receiving routine information given by the physician during the medical visit, and the other group also visiting a tra ...

Protein kinase C is a key molecule controlling signal transduction into the cell. We recently reported that protein kinase C II isoenzyme, but neither I nor III isozyme, was expressed in epidermal Langerhans' cells of the adult mouse, and that none of these isozymes was detected in keratinocytes. In this study, we examined the expression of protein kinase C isozymes in human Langerhans' cells in v ...

Protein kinase C is a key molecule controlling signal transduction into the cell. We recently reported that protein kinase C II isoenzyme, but neither I nor III isozyme, was expressed in epidermal Langerhans' cells of the adult mouse, and that none of these isozymes was detected in keratinocytes. In this study, we examined the expression of protein kinase C isozymes in human Langerhans' cells in v ...

We recently reported that male mice have fewer Langerhans' cells (LCs) than females and that orchiectomy resulted in an increased LC density. In this study we demonstrate that orchiectomy induces a transient increase in the number of paired LCs (PLCs) before the increase in LC density occurs. The results of double staining for adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) and 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) sh ...

The minimal phototoxic dose values for UVA radiation of psoralen-treated skin and of oral mucous membrane were studied in 16 healthy volunteers. A commercial 0.01% trioxalen ointment was used as the topical photosensitizer. In all 16 persons the radiation dose needed to induce erythema was greater for the buccal mucosa than for the skin, and the average buccal minimal phototoxic dose was 2.3-fold ...

A case of twenty-nail dystrophy treated with topical PUVA is described. The patient, a 19-year-old woman, had a 4-year history of a nail dystrophy involving all finger- and toe-nails. The finger-nail changes were treated with topical PUVA, dose 0.7-1.4 J/cm2 x 3/week. After 7 months excellent improvement was seen, while the untreated toe-nails were unaffected. A maintenance dose of 0.7 J/cm2 x 3/w ...

Ten patients with histologically proven basal cell carcinoma were treated with sublesional injections of interferon-alpha 2 b (Introna), 1.5 x 10(6) units per injection, three times per week for 3 weeks. Six of the treated lesions cleared completely without further therapy. These lesions measured less than 19 x 19 mm. There was no relapse during an observation period of up to 21 months. Non-healin ...

Diurnal variations in drug pharmacokinetics are a well known phenomenon. Chronopharmacology studies now appear to be attracting increasing interest with a view to establishing an optimum therapeutic prescription. In order to determine possible chronobiological variations of 5-methoxypsoralen (5-MOP) pharmacokinetic, 5-MOP blood concentrations were quantified in 8 healthy subjects after drug ingest ...

We present a case of pemphigus vulgaris which developed during pregnancy. The newborn infant was normal. Bullous lesions were successfully treated by pulse therapy with high-dose corticosteroids. This is, to our knowledge, the first report in English from Japan describing pemphigus vulgaris associated with pregnancy.

A man with AIDS is described in whom a profound weight loss was converted into a weight gain by treatment with megoestrol acetate, a synthetic progesterone. His appetite improved and was accompanied by a feeling of improved well-being. Following abrupt discontinuation of the drug, there was a significant but transient depression of mood and appetite associated with loss of energy; it is suggested ...

A 5-year-old physically and mentally retarded female child born of non-consanguineous parents, who had had disseminated skin lesions for 4 1/2 years, is presented. She had persistent neonatal jaundice associated with clay-coloured stools and generalized pruritus which receded by the age of 2 years. Examination revealed characteristic facies, moderate hepatosplenomegaly, cardiac murmur and widespre ...

Two patients, one with Sézary syndrome and one with mycosis fungoides are described, in whom lesions on the palms and soles were associated with extensive ulceration and gave rise to diagnostic difficulty. Extensive ulceration of the palms and soles is uncommon; its presence should alert clinicians to the possibility of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.

This communication reports on generalized papular eruption in Man, coinciding with infestation due to dwarf tapeworm (Hymenolepis nana), pinworm (Enterobius vermicularis) and whipworm (Trichuris trichiura). The assumed allergic-hyperergic reaction was evident from itching, blood and tissue eosinophilia, increased serum IgE and clearing up after focus of infestation therapy. Pinworm and whipworm th ...

The effect of grenz ray therapy in the treatment of pustulosis palmoplantaris was assessed in 15 patients by randomly allocating active treatment of the lesions of one side of the body, while the lesions on the other side, which received stimulated therapy, served as a control. Four Gy of grenz rays 10 kV were applied on 6 occasions at intervals of 1 week. A significantly better therapeutic result ...

The effects of tetracycline, minocycline and erythromycin on complement activation in vitro were studied. At concentrations of 100 mg/l or less, these antibiotics did not inhibit the capacity of Propionibacterium acnes to cleave C3 in normal human serum or in serum chelated of Ca2+ allowing complement activation by the alternative pathway alone. The antibiotics had no effect (at 100 mg/l) on total ...

Sixty-six patients with moderate to severe facial acne vulgaris were entered in a 12-week double-blind study to compare the efficacy of topical clindamycin phosphate 1% twice daily and oral minocycline 50 mg twice daily. Both treatments gave significant overall improvements from baseline observations in acne grade and inflamed lesion counts, but not in noninflamed lesion counts. There were no sign ...

An 80-year-old Caucasian female with rheumatoid arthritis and recurrent atypical bullous pyoderma gangrenosum is described. There was no evidence of any underlying myeloproliferative disorder. Rapid healing occurred in response to oral minocycline hydrochloride and topical clobetasol propionate.