Granuloma annulare-like reaction to the bacillus Calmette-Guerin vaccination.

We report the case of a 6-month-old girl with a granuloma annulare (GA)-like reaction to the bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination. The eruption developed at the vaccination site 1 month after vaccination and the lesion gradually disseminated over the body within 2 months. A biopsy specimen of the skin lesion showed degenerated collagen bundles surrounded by imperfect palisading histiocytes, lymphocytes and epithelioid cells in the dermis, which led to a diagnosis of GA-like reaction as a secondary reaction to BCG inoculation.

Peripheral choline acetyltransferase in rat skin demonstrated by immunohistochemistry.

Conventional choline acetyltransferase immunohistochemistry has been used widely for visualizing central cholinergic neurons and fibers but not often for labeling peripheral structures, probably because of their poor staining. The recent identification of the peripheral type of choline acetyltransferase (pChAT) has enabled the clear immunohistochemical detection of many known peripheral cholinergic elements. Here, we report the presence of pChAT-immunoreactive nerve fibers in rat skin.

Topical simvastatin accelerates wound healing in diabetes by enhancing angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis.

Impaired wound healing is a major complication of diabetes. Recent studies have reported reduced lymphangiogenesis and angiogenesis during diabetic wound healing, which are thought to be new therapeutic targets. Statins have effects beyond cholesterol reduction and can stimulate angiogenesis when used systemically.

Topical application of ex vivo expanded endothelial progenitor cells promotes vascularisation and wound healing in diabetic mice.

Impaired wound healing leading to skin ulceration is a serious complication of diabetes and may be caused by defective angiogenesis. Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) can augment neovascularisation in the ischaemic tissue. Experiments were performed to test the hypothesis that locally administered EPCs can promote wound healing in diabetes.

CXCR4 antagonist AMD3100 accelerates impaired wound healing in diabetic mice.

The antagonism of CXC-chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) with AMD3100 improves cardiac performance after myocardial infarction by augmenting the recruitment of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) from the bone marrow to the regenerating vasculature. We investigated whether AMD3100 may accelerate diabetes-impaired wound healing through a similar mechanism. Skin wounds were made on the backs of leptin receptor-deficient mice and treated with AMD3100 or saline.

Early depth assessment of local burns by videomicroscopy: 24 h after injury is a critical time point.

Purpose: Videomicroscopy has simple and prompt operability, and useful in the burn depth assessment in its early phase. A burn wound is, however, a dynamic environment in the first few days and the critical time to assess a burn wound by videomicroscopy has not been investigated. The aim of this study is to investigate the critical time point to assess the burn depth by videomicroscopy.

Persistent congenital milia involving the skin of the whole body in an infant with trisomy 13 syndrome.

Milia are tiny pearly-white cysts on the surface of the skin. In newborns, milia are usually located around the nose and eyes and generally disappear after the first several weeks of life. Trisomy 13 is a severe chromosomal disorder, with various complications.

Dendritic cell vaccination in human melanoma: relationships between clinical effects and vaccine parameters.

Eleven years have passed since the start of the first trial of dendritic cell (DC) vaccination for melanoma. A review of 54 trials was performed to evaluate the relationship between clinical effects and vaccine parameters. Significant differences were found between use of immature and mature DCs with regard to progressive disease (PD), between stage III and IV for clinical response, between use and non-use of adjuvants with regard to stable disease (SD) in treatment with tumor/tumor lysate-pulsed DCs, between positive and negative delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) for PD, and between increased and unchanged interferon (IFN)-γ-secreting T cells for clinical response.

Double cancer of plantar malignant melanoma and vulvar extramammary Paget's disease.

A 75-year-old woman presented with a 2-year history of a pigmented nodular lesion on her left sole and a 9-year history of a red infiltrative plaque on the vulva. The plantar lesion was a 15-mm ulcerated nodule located at the center of a 25-mm atypical pigmentation region; the nodule was clinically suspected to be a malignant melanoma. Histopathological analysis of the vulvar lesion biopsy sample indicated extramammary Paget's disease (EMPD).

Mitf silencing cooperates with IL-12 gene transfer to inhibit melanoma in mice.

Malignant melanoma is a malignant neoplasm originating from the melanocyte lineage. Microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (Mitf) is crucially involved in the melanin synthesis as well as proliferation and survival of melanocyte and melanoma. We previously showed that short interfering RNA (siRNA) that is specific for the Mitf gene (Mitf-siRNA) significantly inhibited growth of B16 melanoma after electro-transfected in vivo into preestablished tumor in mice.

Platelet activation in patients with psoriasis: increased plasma levels of platelet-derived microparticles and soluble P-selectin.

Background: It has recently been established that platelets have an important role in increasing inflammation, in addition to their main role in hemostasis and thrombosis. An increased incidence of occlusive vascular disease has been reported in patients with psoriasis and the pathomechanism of psoriasis may involve platelet activation.

Objective: The goal of the study was to establish a clearer explanation of the association between platelet activation and psoriasis activity by investigating the levels of markers of platelet activation in patients with psoriasis and examining the relationship between the marker levels and a severity score for psoriasis.

Case of autoimmune progesterone dermatitis presenting as fixed drug eruption.

Autoimmune progesterone dermatitis is a rare disorder that presents as a cyclical cutaneous eruption during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. It typically occurs in women due to an autoimmune phenomenon to endogenous progesterone production. We describe a 34-year-old woman with an erythematous round plaque with blistering, which recurred a few days before her menstrual cycle, at the identical site on the left arm.

Successful treatment of Stevens-Johnson syndrome with steroid pulse therapy at disease onset.

Purpose: To evaluate the visual prognosis of patients with Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and its severe variant, toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN), followed by general and topical high-dose corticosteroids administration from disease onset.

Design: Prospective, observational case series.

Methods: Between May 1, 2003 and June 30, 2005, we enrolled 5 patients with SJS or TEN with ocular complications at the acute stage.

Platelets play important roles in the late phase of the immediate hypersensitivity reaction.

Background: Recent studies have shown that platelets have a role in most inflammatory reactions, but involvement of platelets in the immediate hypersensitivity reaction (IHR) in skin has not been examined.

Objective: To investigate the role of platelets in a mouse model of IgE-mediated IHR.

Methods: Mice were sensitized by injecting ovalbumin intraperitoneally and challenged by injecting ovalbumin intradermally into ears, with or without platelet depletion.

Platelet-derived microparticles and soluble P-selectin as platelet activation markers in patients with atopic dermatitis.

Plasma levels of platelet-derived microparticles (PDMPs) and soluble P-selectin (sP-selectin) were investigated as markers of platelet activation in 46 atopic dermatitis (AD) patients, 20 non-atopic urticaria patients and 22 healthy controls. The relationships between these markers and the scoring AD (SCORAD) index, blood eosinophil number, serum IgE, and serum lactate dehydrogenase were also investigated in AD patients. Plasma PDMPs and sP-selectin levels were significantly higher in AD patients compared with the other two groups.

Immunoregulatory T cells in the peripheral blood of melanoma patients treated with melanoma antigen-pulsed mature monocyte-derived dendritic cell vaccination.

Background: Regulatory T cells (Treg) may inhibit monocyte-derived melanoma antigen-pulsed dendritic cells (DC) vaccination in treatment of melanoma. However, the Treg level in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) following DC vaccination has not been examined in melanoma patients in Japan.

Objective: To evaluate differences in the helper T cell and Treg population and mRNA levels of Treg in pre- and post-DC vaccination PBMCs obtained from melanoma patients.

Keratinocyte growth inhibition through the modification of Wnt signaling by androgen in balding dermal papilla cells.

Context/objective: Androgen induces androgenetic alopecia (AGA), which has a regressive effect on hair growth from the frontal region of the scalp. Conversely, Wnt proteins are known to positively affect mammalian hair growth. We hypothesized that androgen reduces hair growth via an interaction with the Wnt signaling system.

Atopic dermatitis, dry skin and serum IgE in children in a community in japan.

Background: Long-term, prospective studies investigating the prevalence, serum IgE and the natural history of atopic dermatitis (AD) in a community are lacking.

Methods: In a Japanese community, the skin of primary school children and junior high school students was examined and a questionnaire was given to their parents; their serum total IgE, and house dust mite (HDM)- and Japanese cedar pollen (JCP)-specific IgE levels were also assessed once a year for 9 years.

Results: The median AD prevalence in all students (492 in 1998 and 380 in 2004) was 7.