Hailey-Hailey disease successfully treated with vitamin D oral supplementation.

Hailey-Hailey disease (HHD) also known as familial benign chronic pemphigus is a rare autosomal dominant genodermatosis. HHD treatment is often not satisfactory and hence, various modalities of treatment have been tried. We describe the case of a 37-year-old woman with a 2 years history of macerated erythematous plaques along with erosions, fissures, and crusts located on axillae and submammary areas, successfully treated with only oral supplementation of vitamin D (800 I.

Topical delivery of active principles: the field of dermatological research.

To be effective an active drug or principle must cross the stratum corneum barrier; this process can be influenced to obtain better functional and therapeutical effects. In spite of the wide variety of the methods studied in order to improve the transdermal transfer to obtain systemic effects, the applicability is limited in this field. Attention to the epidermal barrier and penetration of active principles has been reported mostly in studies concerning dermocosmetics.

Oral terbinafine in the treatment of multi-site seborrhoic dermatitis: a multicenter, double-blind placebo-controlled study.

Seborrheic dermatitis (SD) is a common disorder for which no satisfactory curative treatment exists. Preliminary studies suggest that terbinafine may be effective. The efficacy and tolerability of oral terbinafine was evaluated in multi-site SD in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Intradermal drug delivery by low-frequency sonophoresis (25 kHz).

Unlabelled: Ultrasound waves (US) have been proposed to facilitate the absorption of active compounds (transdermal delivery) stimulating some disaggregation of the horny layer and promoting convective movements within the epidermis. Drugs used for alopecia areata, melasma, and lentigo, although proved effective, have limited effects resulting from only partial penetration into the skin. This study has evaluated the efficacy of low-frequency sonophoresis (LFS) at 25 kHz produced by a sonicator apparatus for treatment of alopecia areata, melasma, and solar lentigo.

In vitro effect of 5-aminolaevulinic acid plus visible light on Candida albicans.

Photodynamic therapy, currently used as an alternative technique for the treatment of superficial non-melanoma skin cancers, has been employed in vitro to kill different species of microorganisms. Here the development of Candida albicans colonies has been measured after application of 5-aminolaevulinic acid (ALA) plus visible light (VIS) irradiation. C.

In vitro effects of ultraviolet A on histamine release from human basophils.

Background: As long-wave ultraviolet (UV) radiation penetrates the dermis, connective tissue cellular components and circulating blood cells can be possible targets for solar UVA. Basophils, involved in the effector phase of the inflammatory response, play a part in skin diseases such as chronic urticaria, psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, fixed drug eruption, allergic contact dermatitis, urticaria pigmentosa, systemic sclerosis and bullous pemphigoid.

Objective: The evaluation of the in vitro effect of UVA on histamine release from human basophils.

Hyperpigmentation induced by topical 5-aminolaevulinic acid plus visible light.

Unlabelled: Photodynamic therapy (PDT) with 5-aminolaevulinic acid (ALA) is an alternative tool for the treatment of superficial non-melanoma skin cancers. Recently ALA-PDT has been employed with encouraging results also for warts, condylomata and psoriasis. In this study the effects of topical ALA plus irradiation with visible light on intact human skin have been evaluated.

Phaeomelanin versus eumelanin as a chemical indicator of ultraviolet sensitivity in fair-skinned subjects at high risk for melanoma: a pilot study.

It is now generally agreed that solar exposure is a major external factor in the causation of cutaneous melanoma in light skinned populations with red hair and a marked susceptibility to the acute effects of ultraviolet (UV) radiation. In the present study, we investigated the existence of a possible relationship between hair melanin composition and minimal erythema dose (MED), as an indicator of UV sensitivity, in a group of 15 healthy red-haired subjects aged 20-46 years. In spite of comparable skin and hair colour, marked variations were observed in the MED values as well as in the hair melanin composition.

Dose-dependent visible effect on mice Langerhans cell membrane markers.

Ultraviolet B and psoralen plus UVA treatment induce antigenic and enzymatic changes in Langerhans cells (LC). The aim of this study was to investigate the visible (VIS) effect on mice LC surface markers. As visible source, a slide projector equipped with a 150-W tungsten lamp, emitting between 400 and 740 nm (maximum at 580 nm) was used.

Peptide T in the treatment of severe psoriasis.

We investigated the effect of treatment with peptide T on severe psoriasis in 5 patients. Within 2 months, peptide T led to complete remission of all lesions in 1 patient and to good improvement in 3 others. In 1 patient, no effect was observed.

Effect of nicotinic acid administration on serum levels of bilirubin and iron in patients with porphyria cutanea tarda.

Nicotinic acid (NA) administration in Gilbert's syndrome (GS) patients promotes an increment of bilirubin and of total iron serum levels, dependent on a defective hepatic bilitranslocase function and on a haemolytic effect of NA. In porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT): (1) the effect of nicotinic acid on bilirubinaemia is superimposable to that in controls; (2) a well documented disturbance of iron metabolism occurs; (3) but relationship between bilirubin and iron under NA load has never been investigated. The administration of 5.

Tyrosinemia type II in two cases previously reported as Richner-Hanhart syndrome.

Two sibs with palmo-plantar keratosis and dendritic corneal opacities, previously described as suffering from Richner-Hanhart syndrome by other authors, about 25 years ago, showed increased plasma and urine tyrosine levels. Their neurological and mental features were within normal limits. A comprehensive review of the literature showed a total of 47 cases of fully documented tyrosinemia type II; 8 more patients also had the clinical features of the disease, but aminoacidemia had never been observed.

Inadequate effect of helium-neon laser on venous leg ulcers.

A study to determine whether laser radiation of low-power photon density would really affect the healing of venous leg ulcers in man was performed. The ulcers were irradiated 6 d per wk with a helium-neon laser (wavelength 632.8 nm).

A novel assocation between HLA and disease: porphyria cutanea tarda and HLA-AW32.

An association between porphyria cutanea tarda and HLA-AW32 has been put into evidence in a group of 28 unrelated patients. A relative risk of 3.09, with a chi 2 of 4.