Vulval lichen sclerosus: An Australasian management consensus.

Background/objectives: Vulval lichen sclerosus (VLS) is a chronic inflammatory skin condition predominantly affecting the anogenital region in women and children. To date, there is lack of agreement amongst experts on a severity scale to aid assessment, research and treatment stratification on VLS. Furthermore, literature on best practice for long-term management of VLS is lacking.

Rituximab causing deep ulcerative suppurative vaginitis/pyoderma gangrenosum.

Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is a rare cause of purulent vulvovaginal ulceration. Six recent cases of vulvovaginal pyoderma gangrenosum associated with rituximab are described. All cases were seen in the setting of rituximab used for the treatment of B cell non Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL).

Vulvovaginal pyoderma gangrenosum secondary to rituximab therapy.

Rituximab is being used increasingly for the treatment of B-cell malignancies and nonmalignant conditions. Pyoderma gangrenosum is a rare neutrophilic dermatosis, which can be either idiopathic or associated with underlying systemic inflammatory conditions. We present a series of 4 patients who presented with ulcerative pyoderma gangrenosum in the vulvovaginal area after treatment with rituximab.

Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of B.t.LDC-391 strain that produce cytocidal proteins against human cancer cells.

An indigenous Bacillus thuringiensis strain B.t.LDC-391 producing cytocidal proteins against human colon cancer cell line, HCT-116, was subjected to phenotypic and genotypic characterization to evaluate its relatedness to B.

Identification of native Bacillus thuringiensis strain from South India having specific cytocidal activity against cancer cells.

Aim: To identify the parasporin-producing, indigenous Bacillus thuringiensis strains that specifically targets human cancer cells in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, South India.

Methods And Results: Alkali-solubilized inclusion proteins from the 82 nonclonal indigenous isolates of B. thuringiensis were analysed for their cytotoxicity against two human cancer cell lines, U-937 (human histiocytic lymphoma) and HCT-15 [corrected] (adherent human colon cancer cells).

Postmenopausal vulval disease.

Vulval disease in the postmenopausal age group is relatively common. Some vulval conditions such as lichen sclerosus are more prevalent in the postmenopausal years. Often more than one condition is present at the same time.

Prospective study of patch testing in patients with vulval pruritus.

Forty-three patients with the primary complaint of vulval pruritus were recruited to take part in this prospective patch-testing study. A detailed questionnaire was administered to each and patch testing to an extended battery of allergens was undertaken. This included the European standard series, preservatives, corticosteroids and a battery of common over-the-counter topical vulval treatments.

Desquamin is an epidermal ribonuclease.

Desquamin is a glycoprotein that we have isolated from the upper granular layer and the stratum corneum of human epidermis; it is not ordinarily expressed in submerged cultures, whose terminal differentiation stops short of formation of these layers. The exogenous addition of desquamin to human cultured keratinocytes extended their maturation, and hematoxylin staining indicated a loss of cell nuclei. For confirmation, cultured cells were lysed in situ, and the nuclei were incubated with desquamin for several days, then stained with hematoxylin.

Modulation by interferon-gamma of zinc-alpha 2-glycoprotein gene expression in human epithelial cell lines.

Zinc-alpha 2-glycoprotein has been detected in most body fluids, and its antibody labels the corresponding glandular epithelia. We have also detected it in human stratified epithelia (epidermis and buccal mucosa). In this study, the mRNA levels of zinc-alpha 2-glycoprotein were found to be about twice as high in epithelial cells of mucosal origin (whether normal primaries or neoplastic cell lines) as in epidermoid cells (normal epidermal primary cultures, an immortalized but non-tumorigenic epidermal cell line, and neoplastic vulvar and cervical cell lines).

Detection and cloning of epidermal zinc-alpha 2-glycoprotein cDNA and expression in normal human skin and in tumors.

Zinc-alpha 2-glycoprotein (Zn alpha 2gp) is almost ubiquitous in body fluids, and its antibody labels the corresponding secretory epithelia. We have found that Zn alpha 2gp is also expressed in human epidermis. We cloned the Zn alpha 2gp cDNA by screening our cDNA library, derived from epidermal keratinocytes, with a probe for prostate Zn alpha 2gp.

Gene expression of zinc-alpha 2-glycoprotein in normal human epidermal and buccal epithelia.

Zinc-alpha 2-glycoprotein (Zn alpha 2gp) is almost ubiquitous in body fluids. We have found it to be also present in stratified epithelia. We compare its mRNA expression in cells from human epidermis and buccal mucosa cultured in media of graded differentiation potential (attained by varying calcium ion concentration and adding serum).

Alteration of secretion of parathyroid hormone-related peptide and expression of its mRNA in a human hepatoma cell line (HEP G2) treated with agents that affect cell growth.

Previously, using human hepatoma cells (HepG2), we found that immunoneutralization of secreted PTHrP increased cell growth. Here we asked whether PTHrP production was affected by agents that alter growth of Hep G2 cells. Immunoreactive PTHrP in medium and PTHrP mRNA expression were examined.

Response of cultured cells from the epidermis and the buccal mucosa to TGF-beta 1 and comparison to interferon-gamma.

Normal human cells from epidermis and from buccal mucosa were cultured to confluence in three media with graded differentiation potential (at low Ca2+, high Ca2+, and supplemented with serum) and treated with transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta 1), as had been done previously with interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma). The response of the cells to TGF-beta 1 was monitored in terms of the expression of regulatory genes associated with proliferation and differentiation (cdc2, c-myc, p53) and of genes for structural proteins expressed at varying stages of maturation (keratins K5 and K10, involucrin, flaggrin). For both tissues, the results obtained with both agents were very similar for those genes expressed in the basal cells (cdc2, c-myc, p53, K5), regardless of their function, but diverged for the other genes, which are expressed in the suprabasal cells.

Effect of endogenously produced parathyroid hormone-related peptide on growth of a human hepatoma cell line (Hep G2).

A well differentiated human hepatoma cell line (Hep G2) was used to explore potential roles for PTH-related peptide (PTHrP) as an autocrine/paracrine growth factor. Using Northern analysis or reverse transcription-PCR, Hep G2 cells were found to express messenger RNAs for both PTHrP and the cloned PTH/PTHrP receptor, and the cells exhibited specific binding for [125I]PTHrP(1-36). Hep G2 growth medium was found to contain relatively large amounts of immunoreactive PTHrP (30 vs.

Detection of mitochondrial genome depletion by a novel cDNA in renal cell carcinoma.

A cDNA isolated by a subtractive hybridization procedure detected loss of mtDNA and the mRNA coding for NADH dehydrogenase subunit 3 in 8 of 13 tumor kidney tissues obtained from patients with renal cell carcinoma. Sequencing revealed a stretch of nucleotides homologous to the mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase subunit 3 gene in the middle of the cDNA. The depletion phenomenon was also observed in five of six renal carcinoma cell lines.

Induction of apoptotic nuclei by interferon-gamma and by predesquamin in cultured keratinocytes.

Predesquamin is a glycoprotein found in the transition layer and the lower stratum corneum of human epidermis. Interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) induces the synthesis of predesquamin by keratinocytes in culture. We now show ultrastructurally that exogenous addition of either predesquamin or IFN-gamma to cultured keratinocytes induces apoptotic nuclei with condensed chromatin.

Widespread expression of the parathyroid hormone-related peptide and PTH/PTHrP receptor genes in intestinal epithelial cells.

Background: This study was designed to determine whether the genes for both parathyroid hormone-related peptide (PTHrP) and its receptor were expressed in close proximity to one another in various regions of the gut and whether they both were evident in two intestinal epithelial cell lines. The findings would test the idea that PTHrP acts as an autocrine or paracrine factor in the gut.

Experimental Design: Reverse transcription/PCR and Northern analysis were used to detect mRNA for PTHrP and its receptor in various regions of the normal rat gut, in epithelial cell populations isolated along the villus tip-crypt axis in rat jejunum, and in a rat and a human gastrointestinal epithelial cell line (IEC-6 and LoVo, respectively).

Plasma cell myeloma in patients who are HIV-positive.

This report describes the occurrence of plasma cell neoplasia in three young HIV-positive males. Two patients presented with massive ascites. On cytologic examination of the fluid, many immature plasma cells were noted.

Enzymatic activity of desquamin.

We have previously described the properties of desquamin, a cell adhesion molecule in the stratum corneum with lectin-like properties specific for amino sugars. We report here that desquamin is also a trypsin-like serine proteinase. It degrades several chromogenic peptides with arginine in the P1 position, with greatest activity for the tissue plasminogen activator peptide; it has no chymotrypsin-like activity.

Effects of vasoactive intestinal peptide on adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate, ornithine decarboxylase, and cell growth in a human colon cell line.

Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) is a widely distributed neuropeptide that has been considered a potential regulator of cell growth and differentiation in various tissues, including the gut. To examine this idea, we used a human colon carcinoma cell line (LoVo) as a model system and measured ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), because this is the rate-limiting enzyme for the formation of polyamines, which are thought to be key factors in regulating cell growth. LoVo cells, grown to about 80% confluence in F-12 medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum, were preincubated for 5 h in low serum medium (1% fetal bovine serum in F-12), and ODC activity was determined by measuring 14CO2 liberated from 14C-labeled ornithine.

Effects of parathyroid hormone-related peptide on adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate and ornithine decarboxylase in a human colonic cell line.

PTH-related peptide (PTHrP) is widely distributed in normal tissues, including the gut, and is considered a potential autocrine or paracrine regulator of cellular growth and differentiation. With this in mind, a human colonic cell line (LoVo) was used to study the effect of PTHrP on ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), because ODC is known to have profound effects on the growth and differentiation of many cell types via stimulation of synthesis of polyamines. cAMP also was measured, because this second messenger has been implicated in the regulation of ODC activity.

Chromosome 17- and p53 changes in lymphoma.

The clinical course of lymphoma patients in whom rearrangements or deletions of the short arm of chromosome 17 (17p) were evident by cytogenetics was rapidly progressive with a short survival. The gene for the protein designated p53 resides in 17p. We studied four lymphoma cell lines derived from human tumours, and 25 tumour samples of patients with lymphomas, for any evidence of p53 genomic changes by Southern blot technique.

Expression of the parathyroid hormone-related peptide gene in rat tissues.

We have demonstrated that parathyroid hormone-related peptide (PTHrP) mRNA is expressed ubiquitously in normal tissues of the rat, including organs previously considered to be transcriptionally silent. We reverse transcribed PTHrP and PTH mRNA and amplified the resultant cDNA using the polymerase chain reaction. The level of transcriptional activity of PTHrP was highly variable in different tissues, suggesting tissue-specific regulation.

Effects of parathyroid hormonal peptides on the gut.

Our previous studies have shown PTH to be an effective relaxant of smooth muscle throughout the mammalian tract. Recently, we found PTHrP to be equally as potent and effective on the gut as PTH, and we hypothesized that PTHrP, rather than PTH, might be the natural ligand for the gut receptors which mediate GI smooth muscle relaxation. To approach this question, we asked whether rat GI tissue expresses mRNA for PTHrP.