Content - Volume 71, Issue 5

Plantar stratum corneum was examined by means of transmission electron microscopy after conventional osmium fixation and after fixation with ruthenium tetroxide. The latter fixative was used in order to reveal the possible existence of lamelarly ordered lipids in the intercellular space, as has previously been demonstrated for non-palmo-plantar stratum corneum. A major part of the plantar stratum ...

Optothermal infrared spectrometry (OTIS) is a novel way of measuring the water content of stratum corneum non-invasively. This principle has been used in the present study to evaluate the hydrating effect of a one-week treatment of human skin twice a day with either white petrolatum or a cream (o/w emulsion). Forty-two females volunteered for the study, which comprised one control pretreatment wee ...

The cellular infiltrates of early contact hypersensitivity reactions to 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB) in rat oral mucosa were phenotypically characterized using serial frozen tissue sections and monoclonal antibodies. CD2+CD45RB- lymphocytes and ED1+RT1B/D+ monocytes/macrophages appeared in focal collections at the epithelium-connective tissue interface 2-6 h after challenge with DNFB. These foc ...

Normal human skin was exposed to two different detergents, sodium lauryl sulphate in distilled water and non-anoic acid in isopropanol at different concentrations. The detergents were applied under occlusion in epicutaneous tests for 24 h and biopsies were taken at 24 or 48 h. Frozen sections were labelled with monoclonal antibodies against CD1a, CD3 and ICAM-1. The evaluation of the labelled sect ...

Microdialysis, a new bioanalytical sampling technique enables measurement of substances in the extracellular space. This initial study investigates the technique's usefulness in the field of percutaneous absorption of solvents, using ethanol as test substance. Microdialysis probes are equipped at the tip with a semi-permeable polycarbonate membrane which permits passive diffusion of substances. Et ...

The distribution and density of tryptase- and chymase-positive mast cells in lesional and non-lesional cutaneous lichen planus (LP) was analysed. For this, enzyme-histochemical staining techniques and morphometrical measurements were applied. In non-lesional LP skin, chymase-positive cells (TC mast cells) showed a distribution similar to that found in both non-lesional psoriatic skin and in normal ...

A sensitive competitive radioimmunoassay for quantitative analysis of tyrosinase in biological tissues has been developed. The binding sites of antityrosinase antibodies were competed for by 125I-labelled human tyrosinase and a known (standard) or unknown (sample) amount of tyrosinase in solution. A sensitivity range of about 5-500 pmol/l was obtained when a solubilized melanoma tyrosinase with a ...

Atopic dermatitis is associated with profound immunological alterations, in particular decreased lymphoproliferative responses upon stimulation with T-cell mitogens. T-cell blastogenesis involves the production of the soluble cytokine interleukin-2 (IL-2), which in turn upregulates the expression of its own receptor. To investigate the potential role of this cytokine for the pathomechanisms presen ...

In the diagnosis of atopic eczema, minor physical markers (stigmata) frequently provide valuable clues. The prevalence of nine stigmata (dry skin, hyperlinearity of the palms or soles, infraorbital fold, white dermographism, facial pallor, orbital darkening, Hertoghe's sign, low hairline) was evaluated in 34 atopic eczema patients without atopic respiratory disease, in 16 patients with allergic rh ...

Nineteen immunocompromised patients with extensive skin lesions caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa with or without P. aeruginosa bacteremia were analysed. Patients whose lesions originated in the skin were in the majority (14 patients). Skin lesions were located at the site of entry of bacteria (apocrine areas in 12 patients). Cutaneous lesions were pleomorphic but the typical picture of ecthyma gan ...

Skin manifestations were described in lupus anticoagulant (LA) positive and in LA negative SLE patients. Necrotic ulcers appearing at the beginning of the disease process characterized the 33 LA positive patients. Thirteen patients had a "peripheral vascular syndrome"; small leg ulcers of livedoid vasculitis type following deep venous thromboses, in 3 patients developing into pyoderma gangrenosum ...

Certain inflammatory skin diseases are accompanied by increased cytokine concentrations in the epidermis. To determine whether these cytokines are synthesized in the epidermis or exported from underlying tissues, epidermal RNA was analysed for the presence of their messenger RNAs. We report a method for RNA extraction from pure epidermal samples isolated by the suction blister method. The yield of ...

HMB-45, a monoclonal antibody claimed to be specific for malignant melanoma, has been observed to react with normal eccrine sweat glands and occasionally with normal mammary and bronchial epithelium. In this study we show that HMB-45 also decorates cells in approximately 15% of various sweatgland tumours of the skin. This finding, along with the reported reactivity on mammary carcinomas further ou ...

Experiments comparing the L-dopa histofluorescence method for the visualization of epidermal Langerhans' cells and immunocytochemical labelling with monoclonal anti-T6 antibodies have demonstrated the existence of two functionally different human Langerhans' cells: those that take up L-dopa by a mediated transport and those that lack the capacity to take up L-dopa.

The clinical and histologic distinction between X-linked recessive and autosomal dominant ichthyosis was studied by evaluating 12 classical differential parameters in 85 patients. Thirty-three of them had X-linked and 52 autosomal dominant ichthyosis. Eight of these parameters were generally helpful in the differential diagnosis: age of onset, severity of involvement, scale size, chapping of hands ...

Localized heat urticaria is a rare disorder, in which the nature of the mediator is not fully established. We report the case of a 41-year-old woman with the condition, dependent upon mast cell integrity, in which histamine was demonstrated as the dominant, if not sole mediator. Non-sedative antihistamines conferred some therapeutic benefit, but subsequent sequential desensitization has enabled he ...

Three porokeratosis patients with large skin lesion(s) are reported. The histopathology of the large lesions revealed that the epidermis 1) frequently presented slight or marked acanthosis and/or elongation of the rete ridge, and 2) contained abnormal cells, e.g. hyperchromatic, large, multinucleated, and/or irregular shaped nuclei. The DAPI-DNA microfluorometric study revealed DNA polyploidy and/ ...

A 24-year-old woman, presenting with cystic fibrosis, developed superficial actinic porokeratosis. Immunosuppression due to cystic fibrosis may be either the cause of or the exacerbating factor in superficial actinic porokeratosis in our patient.

A 35-year-old female developed generalized pustules within a short period of time. Clinically, two distinct types of pustules were observed, viz. erythematous patches studded with crops of small pustules, and isolated large pustules with a red halo. Histologically, the former were subcorneal spongiform pustules, whereas the latter were unilocular pustules involving the hair follicular infundibulum ...

Contact allergy to various components in cosmetics may cause eyelid dermatitis. Of 8 mascaras analysed with High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), 3 contained colophony. Patients with contact allergy to colophony showed positive patch test reactions when tested with the two mascaras with the highest content of colophony. One mascara without colophony but containing nickel, gave positive re ...

We report a case of Ki-1 lymphoma that developed in a 16-year-old youth who had suffered from multicentric reticulohistiocytosis for 10 years. Over the past 3 years he had had a peculiar sclerosing lesion of the leg for which oral prednisone 5 mg daily was tried for one year, with a moderate effect. He developed a marked swelling of the inguinal lymphadenopathy on the same side as the affected leg ...

Blood flow in subcutaneous tissue of the lower leg decreased by 45% on changing from recumbency to the sitting position in patients suffering from chronic venous insufficiency. When walking, blood flow increased significantly to values near those measured during resting recumbency. A conventional elastic compression bandage (Weromedium) had no effect on these parameters, indicating that therapeuti ...

Since oral cyclosporin A (CsA) has demonstrated its effectiveness in psoriasis and atopic dermatitis, efforts have been made to develop a topical CsA formulation, thus avoiding systemic adverse events. A limited number of publications are available on the use of topical CsA in allergic contact dermatitis and atopic dermatitis. Moreover the response rate of humans to topical CsA is about 50% or les ...

Cutaneous gangrene and vascular calcinosis are described in a patient with chronic kidney failure and hyperparathyreodism. A review of 67 earlier described cases suggests that the symptoms constitute a unique syndrome.

HIV infection and loss of treponemal test reactivity.