Proliferating dendritic cell progenitors in human blood.

CD34+ cells in human cord blood and marrow are known to give rise to dendritic cells (DC), as well as to other myeloid lineages. CD34+ cells are rare in adult blood, however, making it difficult to use CD34+ cells to ascertain if DC progenitors are present in the circulation and if blood can be a starting point to obtain large numbers of these immunostimulatory antigen-presenting cells for clinical studies. A systematic search for DC progenitors was therefore carried out in several contexts.

Buschke-Loewenstein tumour infiltrating pelvic organs.

We report a 42-year-old HIV-negative patient with a 12-year history of exceptionally extensive genital warts and coexisting verrucous carcinoma of the anogenital region (Buschke-Loewenstein tumour). Masses of both tumour and viral papillomas infiltrated the external genitalia, perineum and buttocks, pelvic diaphragm and parts of the lesser pelvis, as well as the urethra, prostate and parts of the urinary bladder, necessitating repeated surgical intervention and plastic reconstruction. Adjuvant interferon-alpha therapy was given without any lasting effects.

[Occurrence of swimmer's itch in Tyrol].

Cercariae from trematodes of birds are capable of penetrating human skin causing a dermatitis, called swimmer's itch. In 1992, after a hot dry summer there was a marked increase in the incidence of cercarial dermatitis in Austria. Although the increased incidence of this complaint can be quite worrisome for the population, the occurrence of swimmer's itch can, in fact, generally be seen as harmless.

[Pyoderma gangraenosum: differential diagnosis in ulcus cruris and postoperative exacerbating processes].

A case of pyoderma gangrenosum that was initially misdiagnosed as postthrombotic ulcers is described. Surgical debridement triggered postoperative exacerbation. Dermatologic examination was then initiated and the diagnosis pyoderma gangrenosum was established.

Immunohistochemically demonstrated metallothionein expression in malignant melanoma.

Metallothioneins are ubiquitous proteins with a high affinity for heavy metal ions, e.g. zinc, copper and cadmium.

Sneddon's syndrome: diagnosis by skin biopsy and MRI in 17 patients.

Background And Purpose: Sneddon's syndrome, characterized by generalized livedo racemosa and cerebrovascular lesions, is an underdiagnosed disease. We evaluated clinical, laboratory, histological, and neuroradiological findings in a series of 17 patients to improve diagnostic criteria for Sneddon's syndrome.

Methods: Patients with generalized livedo racemosa and cerebrovascular events were included in the study.

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detection of antibodies to the unmodified beta-lactam ring.

Dose- and pH- dependent carbodiimide-mediated coupling of Penicillin-G to polystyrene microtiter-plates that leaves the beta-lactam ring unchanged is described. A new ELISA method was developed using Penicillin-G coated plates. The binding of 3 different monoclonal antibodies as well as human IgG antibodies of the IgG1 and IgG3 subclasses is demonstrated, whereas IgG2, IgG4 and IgE antibodies did not bind.

Sneddon's syndrome. A long-term follow-up of 21 patients.

Background And Design: Twenty-one patients with histologically proven Sneddon's syndrome were followed up in a retrospective study. We report on their detailed clinical courses and extensive follow-up examinations.

Results: Incidence is estimated at four cases per million population per year.

Elevated concentrations of circulating intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) in HIV-1 infection.

The membrane-bound glycoprotein intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) plays an important role for many cell-contact-dependent immune functions. A soluble, circulating form of ICAM-1 (cICAM-1) has been detected in the serum of healthy persons and increased concentrations in tumor patients have been reported. We measured serum levels of cICAM-1 in HIV-1-infected individuals with a recently developed ELISA.

Can cyclosporin A induce permanent remission of atopic dermatitis?

Three adult patients, who had suffered from severe therapy-resistant atopic dermatitis since childhood, were treated with long-term (29, 44 and 22 months) low-dose (maintenance dose: 0.5-0.7 mg/kg) cyclosporin A (CyA).

Association between immune activation, changes of iron metabolism and anaemia in patients with HIV infection.

The pathogenesis of anaemia associated with human immunodeficiency virus infection is still far from being understood. It cannot be explained by direct effects of the virus on the haematopoietic system. Recent data suggest a role for immune activation.

Effects of adequate versus inadequate treatment of cutaneous manifestations of Lyme borreliosis on the incidence of late complications and late serologic status.

Eighty-two patients who were treated at the Department of Dermatology, Innsbruck, Austria, from 1980 to 1987 for cutaneous manifestations of Lyme disease were subjected to a clinical follow-up investigation aimed at detecting dermatologic, neurologic, and internal late complications of borreliosis. Only 54 of these patients had received adequate antibiotic treatment according to current standards. Also, their sera were investigated for the presence of immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgM Borrelia burgdorferi antibodies by an indirect immunofluorescence assay, three different enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, and immunoblotting.

Specific skin manifestations in acute leukemia with monocytic differentiation. A morphologic and immunohistochemical study of 11 cases.

Background: Monocytic differentiation is present in the myelomonocytic (M4) and monocytic (M5) type of acute myeloblastic leukemia. Infiltration of the skin in acute myelomonocytic leukemia occurs in 10-20% of patients, the skin lesions occasionally being the first symptom, even preceding monocytosis.

Methods: Eleven patients with myelomonocytic (n = 2) and monocytic leukemia (n = 9) were studied who had skin manifestations.

Retinoids in psoriasis and disorders of keratinization.

Synthetic retinoids, particularly the aromatic retinoid etretinate (Tigason, Europe; Tegison, United States), have had an established role in the treatment of psoriasis and a variety of ichthyosiform disorders for more than a decade. Isotretinoin (Accutane), which was released at approximately the same time, plays a less important role in these disorders. The mechanism of action of etretinate is still incompletely understood although, like retinoic acid, it is thought to interfere with the terminal differentiation of keratinocytes.

Histologic and immunohistochemical study comparing xanthoma disseminatum and histiocytosis X.

Background And Design: As xanthoma disseminatum and histiocytosis X share clinicopathologic features, difficulties in diagnosis can arise. The use of immunocytochemical markers for S100 protein, factor XIIIa, lysozyme, alpha 1-antitrypsin, for adherence of peanut agglutinin and of antibodies LN3 (HLA-DR), Leu-M1 (CD15), QBEnd/10 (CD34), MAC 387, and KP1 (CD68) as an aid to conventional histology has been studied in routinely fixed skin biopsy specimens from seven patients with xanthoma disseminatum and 12 patients with histiocytosis X.

Results: Typically xanthoma disseminatum occurs in discrete foci below an intact epidermis with individual cells set within a delicate fibrillary connective tissue stroma.

Adjuvant treatment of recalcitrant genitoanal warts with systemic recombinant interferon-alpha-2c.

Seventeen male patients with recalcitrant genitoanal warts, who had been unsuccessfully treated with classical destructive modalities for 16 months on average, were included in an open uncontrolled trial. The treatment regimen consisted of caustic and/or surgical measures as judged optimally suited in the individual cases, combined with an intermittent systemic low-dose adjuvant interferon-alpha-2c regimen (3 or 6 5-day-courses with intervals of 2 weeks) followed by a 1-year-observation period. At the end of interferon treatment, no patient had clinically visible warts but 10 still had subclinical acetic acid positive lesions.

Association between serum-soluble CD8 levels and parameters of immune activation in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection.

We compared the serum concentrations of soluble CD8 with the immune activation markers neopterin, interferon-gamma, tumour necrosis factor-alpha, soluble CD4, and with CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell counts in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. The majority of patients had increased concentrations of soluble CD8, interferon-gamma and neopterin, and various significant correlations existed between them. Our results support the view that enhanced soluble CD8 levels indicate activated CD8+ T cells in patients with HIV infection.

The influence of daily dish-washing with synthetic detergent on human skin.

The effects of regular dish-washing on the stratum corneum barrier function, as determined by transepidermal water loss (TEWL), and objective and subjective skin parameters, were investigated in a 'use test' performed by 18 healthy volunteers. Hands were soaked in a 0.05% solution of a commercial dish-washing product (three times/day, for 15 min, at 37 degrees C) over a period of 3 weeks; one hand was unprotected and the other was protected with a commercial rubber glove.

Global degranulation of rat mast cells stimulated with DNP-polystyrene.

Mediator release was studied in rat peritoneal mast cells sensitized with a mouse monoclonal anti-DNP IgE antibody, and stimulated with DNP-ornithine covalently attached to radio-derivatized polystyrene petri dishes. Cells releasing serotonin at maximal rates were investigated by transmission electron microscopy. Generalized exocytosis of granules could be observed, suggesting non-directional release of mediators, and non-compartmentalized action of second messengers in mast cells stimulated with polystyrene-bound DNP.

Overview of pulmonary alveolar macrophage renewal in normal rats and during different pathological processes.

We report experimental results on pulmonary alveolar macrophage (PAM) renewal in healthy rats and in rats treated with particles introduced in the lungs. Morphometric studies showed that the lungs of normal rats of the strain used in our study contain 20 x 10(6) PAM, 50 x 10(6) monocytes in alveolar capillaries, and about 3 x 10(5) interstitial macrophages. Pulse labeling with a tritiated thymidine (3HT) gave a labeling index of 0.

Life history of cutaneous vascular lesions in Sneddon's syndrome.

Sneddon's syndrome is a potentially fatal arterio-occlusive disorder characterized by generalized livedo racemosa and cerebrovascular lesions. Skin biopsies often fail to yield diagnostic arterial lesions. In the present series, affected vessels were found in skin biopsies from 12 of 15 patients with Sneddon's syndrome.

Chromosomal, mitochondrial and metabolic alterations in SV40-transformed rabbit chondrocytes.

Karyotype, mitochondrial ultrastructure and several enzymatic activities were studied in two clones, D22 and D27, from SV40-transformed rabbit chondrocytes. Similar chromosome alterations, with recurrent losses and gains were observed at the various passages. Mitochondria were rare, with increase in size and crest alterations.

[Typing of infiltration cells in primary, localized, nodular, cutaneous amyloidosis].

Amyloid tumours in two patients with primary localized nodular cutaneous amyloidosis contained very dense infiltrates consisting mainly of plasma cells and lymphocytes. In one case IgM was detected on many cells of the infiltrate, while in the other IgA was found in morphologically apparently normal plasma cells. Immunohistochemical investigations did not reveal any immunoglobulin light chain restriction in either of the tumours.