Adjunctive role of manual lymph drainage in the healing of venous ulcers: A comparative pilot study.

Compression therapy plays a pivotal role in the treatment of venous leg ulcers and clinical observations include lymph stasis as contributing to the maintenance of chronic wounds. This finding raises the question whether further improvement in lymph circulation with manual lymph drainage (MLD) as a part of complex decongestive physiotherapy (CDP) can improve ulcer healing. We examined whether CDP improves healing of venous leg ulcers and compared the efficacy of CDP with that of multilayered compression with short-stretch bandages. Eight patients (mean age: 64.8 years, mean ulcer area: 23.07 cm2, duration of ulcers: 25.37 months) were treated with a 5-day-course of CDP and 9 patients (mean age: 70.77 years, mean ulcer area: 21.47 cm2, duration of ulcers: 15.8 months) were included in a 10-day-course of CDP. Control goup consisted of 9 patients (mean age: 56.33 years, mean ulcer area: 13.87 cm2, duration of ulcers: 6.11 months) receiving multilayered compression. Wound surface measurement was carried out on days 5 and 10 and ulcer area reduction rate was calculated as area (initial)-area (final)/time unit. There was no statistical difference between the 5-daycourse of CDP and compression of the same duration regarding ulcer healing (t=-1.62, df=15, p= 0.125). A 10-day-course of CDP significantly increased ulcer healing compared to compression of the same duration (t=-2.42, df=16, p= 0.039). Our preliminary results suggest that MLD as a part of CDP supports healing of venous leg ulcers.

Histidine decarboxylase expression in human melanoma.

Histamine has been implicated as one of the mediators involved in regulation of proliferation in both normal and neoplastic tissues. Histidine decarboxylase, the only enzyme that catalyzes the formation of histamine from L-histidine, is an essential regulator of histamine levels. In this study, we investigated the gene and protein expression of histidine decarboxylase in melanoma. Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and in situ hybridization studies of WM-35, WM-983/B, HT-168, and M1 human melanoma cell lines both resulted in positive signals for histidine decarboxylase messenger RNA. A polyclonal chicken antibody was developed against human histidine decarboxylase and protein expression was confirmed by western blot analysis of the cell lysates, revealing a predominant immunoreactive band at approximately 54 kDa corresponding to monomeric histidine decarboxylase. Protein expression of histidine decarboxylase was also shown by flow cytometric analysis and strong punctate cytoplasmic staining of melanoma cell lines. Moreover, both primary and metastatic human melanoma tissues were brightly stained for histidine decarboxylase. When compared with the very weak or no reactions on cultivated human melanocytes both western blot and immunohistochemical studies showed much stronger histidine decarboxylase expression in melanoma cells. These findings suggest that expression of histidine decarboxylase is elevated in human melanoma.