Content - Volume 66, Issue 6

Vitronectin, now known to be identical to serum spreading factor and to S-protein of complement, is a multifunctional glycoprotein involved in the adhesion and spreading of cells and in the complement and coagulation pathways. The distribution of vitronectin in normal human skin was investigated with immunofluorescence using polyclonal antibodies, and with an avidin-biotin peroxidase complex techn ...

Two patients with metastasizing melanoma and diffuse melanosis have previously been reported to excrete large quantities of trichochromes in the urine. The present study describes 2 further melanoma patients with diffuse melanosis and trichochromuria. The hair of one of the patients which had been red in childhood and turned brown in adult age returned to red with the appearance of melanosis. Norm ...

We have observed differential effects of the cytotoxicity of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) on human skin melanocytes and malignant melanoma cells in vitro. In the absence of 5-FU the melanoma cells multiplied much more rapidly than the melanocytes. With a 7-day exposure of 5-FU (1.92 X 10(-5) to 3.84 X 10(-4) M) all the melanoma cells died by 5 W, while even two times longer exposure (a 14-day exposure) o ...

Ten patients with a clinical diagnosis of lymphadenosis benigna cutis (LABC) solitaria were investigated. Four of the patients knew that they had received a tick bite during the year prior to the appearance of the LABC lesion. Five patients had had a migrating erythema, indicating a previous erythema chronicum migrans Afzelius, near the site where the LABC lesion had developed. In one patient meni ...

A total of 19 patients with alopecia areata volunteered for serial biopsies of the scalp skin during SADBE treatment. Regrowth of terminal hair was seen in 12 of the 19 patients on the side of the scalp treated with SADBE for a minimum of four months, but not on a control side treated with sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS). Immunocompetent cells were characterized with ANAE staining and monoclonal anti ...

The effects of topical application of glucocorticoids on the epidermal beta-adrenergic adenylate cyclase response were investigated. A significant increase in this receptor response was observed 24 h following topical application of potent glucocorticoid ointments (0.12% betamethasone-17-valerate, 0.05% clobetasol-17-propionate). The application of a relatively weak glucocorticoid, hydrocortisone- ...

A psoriasis patient developed erythroderma after the withdrawal of a self-administered chronic topical glucocorticoid therapy. A marked expansion of cells with the morphological and phenotypic features of large granular lymphocytes was noticed in peripheral blood. Functional investigations revealed that these cells responded poorly to polyclonal activators and exhibited antibody-dependent cellular ...

The nickel content of food items consumed in Denmark was estimated on the basis of analysis by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The highest concentrations (1-10 mg nickel/kg fresh weight) were found in cocoa, licorice, lucerne seeds, dried beans, peanuts, hazel nuts, sunflower seeds, oat meal and wheat bran. A diet instruction sheet is proposed as an aid to reduce the amount of nickel ingested ...

The phototoxic reaction to doxycycline is provoked by long-wave ultraviolet light (UVA). It was shown by the in vivo mouse tail technique, measuring phototoxic edema, that the addition of medium-wave ultraviolet light (UVB) immediately after, immediately before and especially 24 h before the phototoxic trauma, enhanced the reaction more than could be expected from simple addition, thus demonstrati ...

Five patients were treated with either 0.25% methotrexate cream or placebo in a double blind trial. The evaluation showed no clinical or histological effect although the drug was absorbed from the skin. Methotrexate (MTX) accumulated in locally treated psoriasis plaques as well as in untreated plaques. The psoriatic skin concentrations were increased by a factor of 119 and 4, respectively. This ob ...

When the hamster Ab amelanotic melanoma has been grown as subcutaneous transplants in hamsters, melanin and identifiable melanosomes have never been observed by electron microscopy. When the cells were placed in primary cell culture, melanosomes of a granular type which contained small amounts of melanin appeared during the first 24 hours of cell culture. As the cultures grew older, the number and ...

Urocanic acid (UCA) is a photoreceptor in the epidermis which absorbs UVB. To elucidate the role of UCA as an immunomodulator in the mechanism of immune suppression which occurs after UV irradiation in human, we studied the effect trans-UCA as well as that of its UV induced cis-isomer (cis-UCA) on mitogen induced lymphocyte transformation and on delayed type responses elicited by intradermal testi ...

Using murine monoclonal antibodies against human OKM5, OKM1 and HLA-DR antigens antigenic characteristics of freshly separated human epidermal cells (EC) and those of EC cultured in the presence of Interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) were studied. After 8-12 days of culture, primarily OKM1- OKM5- HLA-DR- keratinocytes displayed OKM5 and HLA-DR antigens when exposed to IFN-gamma. Our data support the conc ...

The incidence of atopic diseases and IgE production was investigated in 69 patients of the AIDS outpatient clinic. In LAV/HTLV-III infected homosexuals there was a trend to lower serum IgE levels and decreased frequency of atopic diseases. The incidence of patients with positive RAST against common environmental allergens was significantly lower in LAV/HTLV-III-infected versus non-infected homosex ...

Serum levels of testosterone and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) were assessed in eight women suffering from male pattern alopecia. Eight healthy women of similar age served as controls. A statistically non-significant increase was observed in serum testosterone levels as compared with those of the controls (p greater than 0.1). On the other hand, a statistically significant fall was observed ...

A prognostic study of 18 patients with a diagnosis of psoriasiform napkin dermatitis was performed. The observation period had a duration of 7 to 15 years. Two patients developed psoriasis and two developed atopic dermatitis.

We present a patient with psoriasis who developed exfoliative dermatitis with concomitant fever, malaise and liver enzyme elevations, two days after the introduction of the new calcium antagonist diltiazem. The symptoms rapidly resolved after discontinuation of diltiazem and treatment with prednisone. Three years previously, this patient developed a similar reaction after 12 days of treatment with ...

No abstract available.