Inhibition of keratin 17 expression with antisense and RNAi strategies: exploring novel therapy for psoriasis.

Psoriasis is now considered to be a chronic, immune-mediated and inflammatory skin disease. As the precise cause of psoriasis remains unknown, its treatment is challenging for dermatologists. Keratin 17 (K17), an intermediate filament protein, is highly expressed in psoriatic lesions, while not normally expressed in healthy epidermis.

Human facial allotransplantation: a 2-year follow-up study.

Background: Progress in composite tissue allotransplantation could provide a new treatment for patients with severe facial disfigurements. We did a partial facial allotransplantation in 2006, and report here the 2 year follow-up of the patient.

Methods: The recipient, a 30-year-old man from China, had his face severely injured by a bear in October, 2004.

[Immunosuppressive treatment about the patient operated facial allotransplantation in perioperative period].

Objective: To investigate the perioperation medication on the first patient who was operated facial allotransplantation, including immunosuppressive drug and adjunctive drug, so that to search a effective medication schedule to the patient operated facial allotransplantation.

Methods: FK506, MMF, Prednisone and Zenapax was performed as immunosuppressive regiment in perioperative treatment; meanwhile, anti-infectives was administered to take precautions against all sorts of infections, such as bacterium, virus and fungus. Furthermore, all kinds of adjunctive drug, Losec, glucurolactone and so on, was administered to protect those function of stomach, liver, kidney and so on.

[A hemifacial transplantation model in hares].

Objective: To design an animal model to study the facial transplantation of allografts in rabbits.

Methods: Livid blue rabbits and New Zealand white rabbits was applied as experiment animal, to harvest hemifacial composite-tissue flap based in the common external carotid artery with the branch of the external mandibular artery and auricularis magna artery, then allotransplantation was performed with the livid blue rabbits as recipient while new Zealand rabbits as donor, the immunosuppressive agent comprised ciclosporin, azamun and prednisone. 25 couples of rabbits were divided three groups.