Conceptual Model to Illustrate the Symptom Experience and Humanistic Burden Associated With Atopic Dermatitis in Adults and Adolescents.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a pruritic or painful dermatologic disease characterized by xerosis and eczema lesions. The symptoms/signs of AD can significantly impact patients' health-related quality of life (HRQoL). This study aimed to qualitatively explore the adult and adolescent experience of AD.

Fixed combination calcipotriol plus betamethasone dipropionate aerosol foam in the treatment of psoriasis vulgaris: rationale for development and clinical profile.

Psoriasis is a chronic, immune-mediated inflammatory disorder with a significant negative impact on quality of life. Most patients with mild-to-moderate psoriasis manage their disease with topical therapies; the most commonly used formulations contain corticosteroids and/or vitamin D3 analogues. However, adherence to topical treatment remains a significant issue as the daily treatment regimen can be cumbersome and time consuming and many patients do not obtain complete/almost complete clearance.

Favourable results of Mohs micrographic surgery for basal cell carcinoma.

Introduction: Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common malignant neoplasm with an annual incidence approaching 200/100,000 person-years. Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) is widely used in North America and in Europe for treatment of BCC. This technique ensures radical tumour removal, sparing of the surrounding healthy skin, and it also offers higher cure rates than standard tumour excision with a predefined margin of healthy skin.

Secretion, blood levels and cutaneous expression of TL1A in psoriasis patients.

TL1A is a TNF-like cytokine which has been shown to co-stimulate TH1 and TH17 responses during chronic inflammation. The expression of this novel cytokine has been investigated in inflammatory disorders like rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease, but little is known about expression and induction in psoriasis. Indeed, the pathogenesis in psoriasis is still not fully understood and it is speculated that cytokines other than TNF-α are important in subsets of patients.

Inhibition of 4-1BBL-regulated TLR response in macrophages ameliorates endotoxin-induced sepsis in mice.

Activation of Toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling rapidly induces the expression of inflammatory genes, which is persistent for a defined period of time. However, uncontrolled and excessive inflammation may lead to the development of diseases. 4-1BB ligand (4-1BBL) plays an essential role in sustaining the expression of inflammatory cytokines by interacting with TLRs during macrophage activation.

Activation of p38α in T cells regulates the intestinal host defense against attaching and effacing bacterial infections.

Intestinal infections by attaching and effacing (A/E) bacterial pathogens cause severe colitis and bloody diarrhea. Although p38α in intestinal epithelial cells (IEC) plays an important role in promoting protection against A/E bacteria by regulating T cell recruitment, its impact on immune responses remains unclear. In this study, we show that activation of p38α in T cells is critical for the clearance of the A/E pathogen Citrobacter rodentium.

Synthesis of Fe3O4-ZnS/AgInS2 composite nanoparticles using a hydrophobic interaction.

Magnetic nanoparticles and fluorescent quantum dots (QDs) can make many effective applications in biomedical system. Here, we demonstrated one way of synthetic method and its surface modification to use for biomedical applications. Fe3O4 nanoparticles are well known as magnetic materials and its magnetic property can be used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), cell detection.

Alveolar macrophages modulate allergic inflammation in a murine model of asthma.

The role of alveolar macrophages (AMs) in the pathogenesis of asthma is still unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of AM in the murine model of asthma. AMs were selectively depleted by liposomes containing clodronate just before allergen challenges, and changes in inflammatory cells and cytokine concentrations in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid were measured.

Phase II trial of zanolimumab (HuMax-CD4) in relapsed or refractory non-cutaneous peripheral T cell lymphoma.

The efficacy and safety of zanolimumab (HuMax-CD4) in patients with relapsed or refractory peripheral T Cell lymphoma (PTCL) was evaluated. Twenty-one adult patients with relapsed or refractory CD4(+) PTCL of non-cutaneous type (angioimmunoblastic T cell lymphoma (AITL) n = 9, PTCL-not otherwise specified (NOS) n = 7, anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) n = 4 and enteropathy type T cell lymphoma n = 1) were treated in a single-arm multi-centre study, with weekly intravenous infusions of zanolimumab 980 mg for 12 weeks. Median age was 69 years (range 26-85).

Disruption of lipid rafts causes apoptotic cell death in HaCaT keratinocytes.

Lipid rafts are cholesterol-enriched microdomains in plasma membranes. The functional activity of many membrane proteins, including death and growth factor receptors, depends on their insertion in lipid rafts. We have previously demonstrated the presence of lipid rafts in keratinocytes and shown that lipid rafts are involved in the control of keratinocyte proliferation and metabolic activity.

Inhibitors of cysteine cathepsin and calpain do not prevent ultraviolet-B-induced apoptosis in human keratinocytes and HeLa cells.

Caspases, members of the cysteine protease family, execute UVB-induced apoptosis in several cell lines and keratinocytes. Several researchers investigating UVB-induced apoptosis have demonstrated a dose-dependent protective effect of the synthetic peptide caspase inhibitor zVAD-fmk. However, zVAD-fmk displays a dose-dependent protective effect against UVB-induced apoptosis, even at doses higher than those required to block all known proapoptotic caspases.

In vivo UVB irradiation induces clustering of Fas (CD95) on human epidermal cells.

In vitro studies with human cell lines have demonstrated that the death receptor Fas plays a role in ultraviolet (UV)-induced apoptosis. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relation between Fas expression and apoptosis as well as clustering of Fas in human epidermis after a single dose of UVB irradiation. Normal healthy individuals were irradiated with three minimal erythema doses (MED) of UVB on forearm or buttock skin.

Basal cell carcinoma is associated with high TNF-alpha release but nor with TNF-alpha polymorphism at position--308.

The mechanisms underlying induction of UVB-induced immunosuppression are not fully understood, but tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) is suggested to play a central role. A single base pair polymorphism at position --308 in the promoter region of the TNF-alpha gene associated with an enhanced secretion of TNF-alpha has been identified in humans. We have therefore investigated the association of the --308 polymorphism with the risk of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) in humans.

Flotillas of lipid rafts in transit amplifying cell-like keratinocytes.

Lipid rafts are dynamic membrane microdomains enriched in cholesterol and sphingolipids and are involved in the regulation of a variety of cellular processes, such as proliferation, apoptosis and cell motility. We have previously described that large lipid raft aggregates are readily detectable on cultured keratinocyte cell line HaCaT by staining with the fluorescein-tagged cholera toxin (CTx-FITC). In this paper we adopted this method for the detection of lipid rafts in human epidermis and keratinocytes in culture.