Use of Platelet-rich Plasma for Vulvovaginal Autoimmune Conditions Like Lichen Sclerosus.

Background: Lichen sclerosus (LS) is an inflammatory dermatosis with autoimmune pathogenesis. Although relatively common, its true incidence is unknown and likely underestimated. LS is usually anogenital, but in around 10% of patients, it can present as extragenital lesions.

Cord blood-derived macrophage-lineage cells rapidly stimulate osteoblastic maturation in mesenchymal stem cells in a glycoprotein-130 dependent manner.

In bone, depletion of osteoclasts reduces bone formation in vivo, as does osteal macrophage depletion. How osteoclasts and macrophages promote the action of bone forming osteoblasts is, however, unclear. Since recruitment and differentiation of multi-potential stromal cells/mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) generates new active osteoblasts, we investigated whether human osteoclasts and macrophages (generated from cord blood-derived hematopoietic progenitors) induce osteoblastic maturation in adipose tissue-derived MSC.

Risk factors for recurrent Mycobacterium ulcerans disease after exclusive surgical treatment in an Australian cohort.

Objective: To describe risk factors for recurrence after exclusive surgical treatment of Mycobacterium ulcerans infection.

Design, Setting And Participants: Prospective observational cohort study of all M. ulcerans cases managed with surgery alone at Barwon Health, a tertiary referral hospital, from 1 January 1998 to 31 December 2011.

Successful outcomes with oral fluoroquinolones combined with rifampicin in the treatment of Mycobacterium ulcerans: an observational cohort study.

Background: The World Health Organization currently recommends combined streptomycin and rifampicin antibiotic treatment as first-line therapy for Mycobacterium ulcerans infections. Alternatives are needed when these are not tolerated or accepted by patients, contraindicated, or neither accessible nor affordable. Despite in vitro effectiveness, clinical evidence for fluoroquinolone antibiotic use against Mycobacterium ulcerans is lacking.

Outcomes for Mycobacterium ulcerans infection with combined surgery and antibiotic therapy: findings from a south-eastern Australian case series.

Objective: To describe the effect of antibiotics on outcomes of treatment for Buruli or Bairnsdale ulcer (BU) in patients on the Bellarine Peninsula in south-eastern Australia.

Design: Observational, non-randomised study with data collected prospectively or through medical record review.

Patients And Setting: All 40 patients with BU managed by staff of Barwon Health's Geelong Hospital (a public, secondary-level hospital) between 1 January 1998 and 31 December 2004.