Topical 5-fluorouracil in the treatment of Darier's disease.

Two patients suffering from therapy-resistant Darier's disease were treated with topical 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). The drug was applied in a concentration of 1% in a cream base, once daily, in left-right comparison with either 7.5% salicylic acid in petrolatum or 0.

Exogenous protoporphyrin inhibits Hep G2 cell proliferation, increases the intracellular hydrogen peroxide concentration and causes ultrastructural alterations.

Ultrastructural hepatocellular abnormalities in early stages of erythropoietic protoporphyria lead to hepatobiliary changes that cause overt liver disease in 5-10% of patients, not infrequently progressing to fulminant hepatic failure. This cannot be attributed solely to protoporphyrin crystal deposition in the liver. Hepatic redox systems have therefore been postulated as an equivalent for the photoreaction of protoporphyrin.

Familial Jessner's lymphocytic infiltration of the skin, occurring in a father and daughter.

Familial occurrence of Jessner's lymphocytic infiltration of the skin is reported in a father and daughter. A definitive diagnosis of Jessner's disease was greatly facilitated by the presence of large numbers of plasmacytoid monocytes within the dermal infiltrates in both patients. A role for skin-directed lymphocyte migration is suggested to account for the presence of this peculiar cell type.

Immunofluorescence microscopy of healthy skin from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: more than just the lupus band.

Many papers have been published on the lupus band in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), but little information exists on the possible diagnostic value of the lupus band and other microscopic immunofluorescence phenomena found in clinically normal skin of patients with SLE. In a study of 297 subjects (66 patients with SLE, 81 patients with other forms of LE, and 150 patients with other systemic connective tissue disorders) it was found that: (a) granular deposits of IgA, IgG, and IgM in the basal membrane zone and in the deeper blood vessels were more common in patients with SLE than in the other two groups; (b) depending on the clinical differential diagnosis, IgA and IgG deposits at the epidermal basal membrane can be specific for SLE; (c) using logistic regression analysis sets of variables can be selected with a high potential to discriminate between SLE and the other groups; and (d) immunofluorescence variables do not duplicate the information for the diagnosis of SLE given by the American Rheumatism Association (ARA) criteria or other laboratory methods. From these results, it is concluded that immunofluorescence microscopy of clinically normal skin is a valuable diagnostic method which should be reconsidered as a potential criterion for the diagnosis of SLE in the next evaluation of the ARA criteria.

A new development in UVB phototherapy of psoriasis.

We have compared the therapeutic effectiveness of a new UVB fluorescent sunlamp, the Philips TL-01 lamp, which emits a narrow peak around 311-312 nm, with the currently used Philips TL-12 lamp, in 10 patients with psoriasis. We also compared the tumour inducing capacity of the two lamps in hairless mice. The therapeutic effect of the TL-01 lamp was superior to that of the TL-12 lamp in nine of the 10 patients.